


Life After Loss (Under Editing)

by TwentyOneJedi011



Category: Doctor Strange - Fandom, Spider-Man - All Media Types, Spider-Man: Homecoming (2017), The Avengers (Marvel) - All Media Types
Genre: Angst, Dead Aunt May, Hurt Peter Parker, Hurt/Comfort, Peter Parker Needs a Hug, Peter Parker Whump, Precious Peter Parker, Tony Stark Acting as Peter Parker's Parental Figure, Whump, mention of 9/11
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-05-08
Updated: 2019-04-03
Packaged: 2019-05-03 22:32:23
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 10
Words: 20,151
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14579034
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TwentyOneJedi011/pseuds/TwentyOneJedi011
Summary: loss/lôs,läs/nounthe fact or process of losing something or someone.August 10th, 2001, Peter Benjamin Parker was born to Mary Fitzpatrick and Richard Parker. They’d tried for years to have a child, so when they found out they were expecting, they were overjoyed. Peter Benjamin Parker was born August 10th, 2001.September 11, 2001, Peter faced loss for the first time.Peter was only a month at the time. Richard’s brother, Ben, and his wife, May were stricken with grief, but took Peter in nonetheless.They took care of him and loved him as if he were their own.On December 23rd, 2016, Uncle Ben was shot and killed in front of Peter.Peter didn’t understand why it happened. Why did that man have to break into their house? Why did he have to have a gun? Why did Ben have to jump in front of Peter?Peter and May went on with their lives. May had to take on double shifts at the hospital but still managed to look out for Peter.May 5th, 2018, Peter lost his last piece of family.





	1. See You Again

**Author's Note:**

> Welcome to my very first Marvel fanfiction and my very fanfiction using Archive! I’m super excited about starting this fanfic, and can’t wait to see what everyone thinks. 
> 
> Please keep in mind, that I’ve never written fanfiction for this fandom, so if the characters are extremely OOC, then I’m sorry. 
> 
> Also, I am used to writing present fanfics that are normally one of the characters POV, but for this I decided to go past tense and third person POV. So if it’s not good... then I’m extremely sorry.
> 
> ((The Summary sucks, but I think the story is better.))

It was a regular day at the Avengers compound, and everyone was hanging out together in the living area. Tony Stark was messing with one of his newest inventions, occasionally yelling at Sam and Clint for touching it, while everyone else just relaxed. It was a quiet Sunday, and they were getting a much needed well-earned break.

That is, until the news came on.

—————

Peter Parker’s day was normal. He’d woken up, brush his teeth, and spend time with his Aunt like he did every weekend. 

Ned and MJ were busy that day, so May and Peter decided to have Aunt-and-Nephew time, which is something they haven’t had in a long while. They’d rent a movie, and get takeout at the local Thai restaurant. Like they did every weekend.

Peter walked out of his room, "Hi Aunt May,"

"Hi Peter," May replied with a smile, picking her purse off the table. "Ready to go?"

"Yep!" Peter said, quickly catching the coat May threw at him. "I’m all ready to go."

The two walked out of the apartment and climbed into the car. 

"Is Ned and MJ joining us today?" May asked.

"Uh, no." Peter replied. "Ned is sick with the flu and MJ is out of town." 

"Okay," May said. "So what movie would you like to rent today? I know Daddy’s Home 2 came out in November, maybe it’s up for rent now."

Peter shrugged, "Maybe."

"Oh! Also, Justice League is out I think," May stated. "It’s about superheroes. And well, you’re a superhero, right? Think maybe you’d like..."

Peter focus broke in that moment, as the hairs on his skin started to stick up. Something nagged at him, and his head ached terribly. In the corner of his eye, he saw something that made him sick, and the only thing he could do was yell.

"May! Watch out-" 

It was too late, however. 

There was a loud crash, and the world around the two went black.

—————

The color drained from Tony Stark’s face the instant he saw and heard it. Everyone else’s voice were distant, as he stared at the T.V. in horror. 

There had been a car accident on the part of town Peter’s from, and the car looked a whole heck of a lot like May’s car, and there’d been two passengers, both who were critically injured.

Quickly, Tony picked his phone up, dialed Peter’s number, and only felt sicker when he didn’t answer. 

Tony stood up, walking towards the elevator door without giving any explanation on what was happening, despite his teammates efforts to give him to talk. He dialed Peter’s number two more times, and May’s once.

No one answered. 

"Tony! What’s going on?" Steve asked.

"Peter," 

Was all he could get out.

—————

"Hello, I’m here to see Peter Parker," Tony stated, not bothering to make eye contact with the receptionist. He was there, but his mind was somewhere else. "He was in a car accident earlier today, and I believe he’s here."

"Umm, oh yes!" The receptionist replied. "We do have a Peter Parker here, but it’s I immediate family only, and I don’t see you on his emergency contact."

"The kid has no immediate family," Tony snapped. "It’s just him and his aunt." Tony sighed, trying to calm himself. "Can you at least give me an update on him? Or his aunt, May Parker? I need something."

She glanced up at him, but didn’t say anything. 

"Look, the kid is like a son to me," Tony said. "I need to know he’s okay, so please give me something."

She sighed, "Peter Parker is currently stabilized."

He sighed in relief, "And May Parker?"

"I’m sorry to inform, that May Parker died early this evening," 

Tony froze. 

Great, now he’d have to tell the poor kid that the last piece of family he has left was dead, "C-can I see him?"

"I’ll see what I can do," she said after a minute of consideration.

Tony sighed, walking to the waiting room. He carelessly flopped down on the chair, and took out his phone.

"Hey," 

Tony jumped; startled at the voice. He looked over to see a few of his teammates, sitting on the chairs with concerned looked plastered across their faces.

"What the heck!" Tony exclaimed. "What are you guys doing here?"

"Something was obviously wrong with you," Natasha stated. "So we followed you. Why are you here?"

Tony opened his mouth to speak, but thankfully was cut off by a nurse, "Mr. Stark? I believe you requested to see Peter Parker. He’s currently unconscious but you are welcome back now. His room number is 232."

"Oh, yes!" Tony said, quickly standing up and turning towards his team. "I’ll explain later, but go back now!"

The others looked stunned, but didn’t say anything else as Tony started walking away.

—————

Peter’s conscious regained slowly. The first thing he was aware of was the obnoxious beeping noise coming from somewhere in the room. His senses were screaming at him as he came to, and all he wanted to do was for the darkness to swallow him once more. 

He forced his eyes open, finding himself in a bright room. 

Peter tried to recall what exactly happened, and what he was doing here. Wherever here was, exactly. He heard a voice, but it was distant and he didn’t know whose voice it was. It was familiar, yes, but he couldn’t place it. So, he decided just to guess.

"May...?"

"No, kid, sorry. It isn’t May," the voice was closer now, so close he could almost make out who it was. "It’s Tony. Tony Stark, y’know, Iron Man?"

"Mr. Stark?" 

"Yeah kid, you awake?" Tony asked, getting in Peter’s line of vision.

"Mm-hm," Peter hummed. "Where am I?"

Tony frowned, "You’re in the hospital."

Peter’s eyes widened, and he quickly sat up, "What?! What do you mean I’m in the hospital? What happened?"

"You and May were in a car accident," Tony explained. "You were hurt pretty badly. You’ve got a pretty severe concussion, five cracked ribs, and a broken ankle. You’ve been out for a whole day, gave me quite the scare."

Peter rested slightly, his injuries hurting him, "How’s May?" 

Tony’s face dropped, and he gave the kid a solemn look, "Peter, I’m sorry, but I have some bad news."

As Tony explains to Peter what happened, he can’t help but feel his heartbreak. The normal light that normally shined in his eyes was replaced by darkness, and he stared off numbly, trying to fight back the tears that threatened to spill from his eyes. 

Awhile, after Peter has processed as much of the information that he possibly could that the moment, Peter shifted his focus onto Tony, "What’s going to happen to me now?" His voice was low and weak, something Tony never saw from him. 

Tony cleared his throat. 

He hadn’t thought about this, not yet at least. Peter had no more family left, and that only left him with one other option: Foster Care.

No no, Peter could definitely not go into foster care. He was definitely not a normal child, he was Spider-Man for goodness sakes! And not to forget that he’s a teenager, and it’s harder for teens to get placed with foster families. 

Tony thought for awhile. What could he do? 

Then suddenly he thought of an idea.

"I could take you in." Tony said; he didn’t have to think twice. It was the obvious answer for this problem, at least thats what he thought. Though they’d never admit to it, the two of them looked at each other as family. 

There was no way Tony would let Peter go into foster care and stay with some strangers, especially with his powers and alter ego.


	2. Unsteady

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Peter reflects on Tony’s offer; the team talks to Tony about Peter.

"I could take you in." Tony Stark said; he didn’t have to think twice. It was the obvious answer for this problem, at least thats what he thought. Though they’d never admit to it, the two of them looked at each other as father and son sometimes. 

There was no way Tony would let Peter go into foster care and stay with some strangers, especially with his powers and alter ego. 

Peter stared at him for a minute, overcome by sadness and surprise. His aunt just died and now Tony Stark was his possible guardian. Maybe Peter shouldn’t have been so surprised, as May had mentioned before that in case she ever died while Peter was still young, she wanted Tony as his legal guardian. 

"I mean, it’s up to you, I guess." Tony explained. "If you don’t want to stay with me that’s fine. I’m sure I could find you a nice family. There’s plenty of people out there willing to adopt a teenager with super powers, right? Probably not, but I could try. I want whatever’s best for you. I want you to feel safe."

"It…it doesn’t matter," Peter said. "You’ll just end up dying, and so will they. Everyone that I live with just ends up dying." Peter gazed down at his hands. "I wish I could just disappear sometimes, y’know? I’m bad luck. Everyone would be better off without me."

Tony stilled, staring at Peter with concern. Peter wasn’t even looking at him, he was staring down at his hands, not making a single peep. Tony was already worried for the kid, but he wasn’t expecting all of this so soon. "Okay, Pete, we’re just gonna pause this conversation till tomorrow." Tony said finally, his concern replaced by sympathy. "You’re upset, you don’t understand what you’re saying. Right now, you rest. Tomorrow we can talk about this, okay, Pete?"

Peter didn’t reply, and leaned back into the pillows. Within a few minutes, he drifted off to sleep, leaving behind a very worried Tony Stark. 

—————

For Tony, time moved quickly; but for Peter, it just dragged on. 

The days following the accident were slow and painful. On more then one occasion, Peter would forget about his aunts death, and Tony would have to remind him. It was worrying for Tony, but the doctors assured he was fine and it was just the concussion. 

Peter was finally being released on Saturday; exactly one week after the accident. 

Tony walked into Peter’s hospital room, seeing him packing the very few things Happy and Tony had fetched the days before. 

Peter barely acknowledged him at first, and Tony was wondering if he even noticed him. With a sigh, Tony sat on the foot of the hospital bed, and glanced at Peter, "I bet you’re ready to get out of here, huh?"

Peter shrugged, "I’d be more ready if May was alive and we were going back to our apartment in Queens," he thought to himself, as he zipped his backpack and then threw it over his shoulder. 

"Happy’s outside, waiting in the parking lot." Tony explained. "He went back to your old apartment to pack a few things. It’s not much, but we’ll take you shopping when you get settled in." 

"It’s fine, I’d wear the same outfit for days if it weren’t for May," Peter said, smiling slightly. "She always made sure I was taken care of." His smile fell, and he looked down at his feet, "I’m going to miss her."

Tony looked down also, and nodded. Peter quickly blinked the tears that blurred his vision away, and adjusted his backpack. When he looked back up, Tony was now standing with a solemn expression on his face. 

"Um, yeah, yeah I’m ready." Peter said, answering the question from earlier. 

Tony nodded again, and helped sign Peter out of the hospital. 

They stepped outside only to be met with a heavy rainstorm, and wasted no time sprinting towards the familiar car with tented windows. Tony climbed into the front seat, and Peter the back. 

"Thanks for parking close," Tony said, closing his door and buckling his seatbelt. 

"Of course," Happy replied simply. "Unlike you, I actually check the weather before I go outside." Tony suppressed a small laugh at the snarky remark. Happy glanced back at Peter, who stared out the window. "How are you holding up, kid?"

Peter’s gaze didn’t break as he answered, "I’m fine," Peter insisted, though both Tony and Happy knew that was a lie. They didn’t say anything, however, as Peter continued to stare out the window and barely acknowledge their existence. 

It was their new normal so far, but Tony would hopefully be able to change that.

—————

The ride to the tower was silent. In all honesty, they kinda liked the silence. It was comforting, and comfort was something they all felt they needed; Peter especially. Occasionally, Peter’s soft sniffles could be heard, but most of the time he was quiet, because the silence was comforting, and Peter welcomed it.

When the car finally came to a stop in front of a huge building, Peter couldn’t help but feel the slightest bit worried. Who all lived there anymore? Would it just be him, Tony, and Happy? Were there others there? And if there were, would they be mad at him for fighting against them? 

Suddenly his car door opened, and there stood Happy, standing by him and waiting for him to get out. Without saying a word, Peter nodded his head, silently thanking him. 

The tower doors opened, and the three walked inside. 

Peter’s anxiety only worsened. 

"Welp, welcome home, I guess." Tony said, sighing. "It doesn’t look like anyones home yet, so it should be quiet for awhile." Peter nodded. "Your room is upstairs with mine and everyone else’s."

That confused Peter. 

"Wait? Anyone? Everyone?" Peter asked. "They moved out, didn’t they?"

"Uh, yes." Tony confirmed. "However, we’re sorting out our problems. They moved back in two months ago. Things are definitely … awkward." Peter cringed at the warning. "But hey, we’re all adults here... well, at least most of us are. You and Wanda are a bit on the younger side."

Peter nodded, "Do you know when they’ll be back?"

"Clint and Natasha said something about taking Wanda shopping," Tony replied. "She doesn’t have much clothes, and Clint is kind of like her dad in some ways, so he took her to the mall. Natasha also came, because well, she’s a girl and knows what Wanda needs. And I’m assuming everyone else followed, because they’re not here."

Peter nodded, again. 

"Like I said, your room is upstairs." Tony said. "It’s across the hall from mine, so if you need anything, feel free to ask Friday." Peter was silent. "I’m kidding, kid. You can tell me anything, at anytime. Unless it’s something stupid and I’m busy working."

"Got it, thanks." Peter offered a small smile, but it disappeared as quick as it came. He stared down at the floor awkwardly, and looked back at him. "You know, you don’t have to do this." Tony gave him a confused look. "Take me in, you don’t have to take me in. I’d understand if it was too much work, really. I don’t want to be a bother to you or anyone el-"

"Kid, stop that." Tony snapped, Peter giving him a questioning look in return. "Stop looking out for everyone all the time. This is nothing, okay? You aren’t a bother to anyone. And if someone says anything bad about you staying here, they’ll have to deal with me. Got it?" Peter gave a small nod. "Now, how about you go look at your room? I decorated the best I could, but I don’t know everything you like. I’ll have to take you shopping once we get you settled in."

"Thanks, Mr. Stark,"

Tony grinned, "No problem, kid."

Peter stared down at the floor, "Now, how about you run upstairs and put your stuff in your room? I’ll come get you when dinners ready. Okay?"

Peter gave a slight nod, "Yeah, okay, sure. I’ll see you later." 

"See you later," Tony echoed with a nod of his head. Peter walked towards the elevator and the doors opened, Tony watched as he disappeared as the doors closed once again.

—————

"We’re back!" Sam shouted, walking into the compounds kitchen where Tony sat at the table, looking over some work he’d put off while Peter was in the hospital. "Hey, why are you in here and not your lab? It’s weird."

Tony sighed, putting his work down and standing up, "I had to fix a few things, thought I’d just do it out here instead of in my lab. Anyway, where were you guys? It’s almost night." 

"Well, we’re fine. Thanks for asking." Clint replied sarcastically.

"We were out shopping, there was an attack." Natasha replied, Tony’s eyes widened slightly. "Nobody died, thank goodness. We tried to get ahold of you but you didn’t answer. Where were you today?"

"I was at the hospital." Tony stated, the avengers eyes widen. "No, no. I’m not hurt. A friend of mine got into an accident last week, and today he was released."

"Oh my gosh, that’s awful." Wanda said. "Is he okay now?"

Tony shrugged, "He’s getting there, I guess." He answered, his gaze falling onto the floor. "His injuries were more severe emotionally than they were physically. He’ll be okay in time, though." 

"Does he have anyone staying with him?" Steve asked. "I sure hope he does, sounds like the accident was bad. Especially if it hurt him emotionally, too." 

That’s when Tony slowly stared back up at them, "About that,"

"You left him alone?!" Rhodey asked. "That’s not very cool, Tony."

"No, no!" Tony replied. "I did not leave him alone. I mean, he’s...he’s actually-"

"Boss, it seems Mr. Parker is in emotion distress right now." Friday alerted, Tony muttered a curse word under his breath. All eyes settled on him, and he sighed.

"He’s here." Tony stated. "Peter Parker, that’s his name, will be staying here for awhile."

—————

After attempting to explain why a strange person was in their house and having an anxiety attack to his team, Tony rushed to Peter’s room.

He found Peter lying on his bed, staring at the ceiling with a blank expression. 

"Pete?" Tony tried, gently sitting next to him on the bed. It was obvious Peter had been crying, as his cheeks were tear stained and eyes were glassy. "Hey, kid, you okay? Friday said you were in emotional distress. Is everything alright?"

Peter sat up, "Yeah," he insisted. Tony wasn’t convinced. "Yeah, I’m fine. I-I just, I called Ned and MJ - told them what happened." Peter looked down. "It’s hard, y’know? I haven’t really said it out loud, and saying it out loud just makes it so ... real." 

Tony stared at him with sympathy, Peter forced a laugh, "It’s stupid, really. It’s been real for a week and I’m only just now realizing it. It’s stupid, I’m stupid."

"It’s not stupid," Tony assured, his voice low. "and you’re definitely not stupid, Peter."

Peter laughed, again. 

"You’re not!" Tony said, his voice stern. "You’re the smartest person I’ve ever met. You feeling this way is completely normal, okay? So don’t go doing this to yourself." 

Peter looked down at his hands, "I heard talking."

"You— what?" Tony asked, raising an eyebrow. "You heard that? How?"

"Spidey senses," Peter reminded. "my ability to hear was increased significantly after the spider bite. I can sometimes hear the whole entire city of Queens when I’m out as Spider-Man."

"Cool," Tony said with a shrug. 

"I guess." Peter said, frowning. "It gets stressful, sometimes. Especially in school."

Tony nodded, "Well, everyone’s back. They also brought food." 

Peter nodded. 

"Don’t worry; I already told them about you, so nobody should ask you too many questions." Tony said. "Do you want to meet them? Or wait until tomorrow, when it’s a new day?"

"C-can I..." Peter’s voice was low. "Can I just meet them tomorrow? I’m not really ... hungry right now. And my head kind of hurts, think it’s the concussion."

"Yeah, okay." Tony responded. "I mean, you have to eat again someday."

"Yeah, I know." Peter replied. "If I get hungry, I have snaps that I hide in my backpack for when I’m on patrol so I have something to eat." 

"Okay, if you insist." Tony said. "I’ll see you tomorrow, kid."

"See you tomorrow," Peter echoed, and watched as Tony exited the room.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The story isn’t the best right now. I wrote this like a month or two ago and only just now decided to post it. It improves, I promise. There’s already four chapters done and one in the works. I hope y’all like it so far!


	3. Life After Change

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The Avengers meet Peter; Tony and Peter talk.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I really hope you like this chapter!

To say Peter barely slept would be an understatement. 

Because Peter didn’t get any sleep, none at all; Anytime he’d blink, he’d see the car coming, and hear Tony telling Peter that May passed away in the accident, and he was left the horrible image of his aunts lifeless body. Peter shook his head in hopes to clear his mind. It didn’t work.

"Pete?" Tony called, walking in the room. "Hey kid, good morning."

"Good morning, Mr. Stark," Peter greeted, throwing on his fake grin. It’d been a week, and he hasn’t had a real smile since. "Um, do you know what time it is?"

"It’s eight in the morning." Tony informed, sitting at the foot of his bed. "I just wanted to see if you were alright. Did you sleep well last night?" 

Peter shrugged. "Yeah, I did." 

No, I didn’t. Peter thought to himself. "Anyway, um, did you? Did you sleep well?"

"Eh, not really." Tony replied. "It’s rare when I get a good nights sleep in anymore." 

Peter felt bad; Tony already had problems before him, and now he had to take care of a stupid teenager - the biggest problem there is. Tony sighed.

"Breakfast is ready," Tony said. "I thought I’d tell you, since you’re awake. Everyone’s out there. I think they’re excited to meet you, Pete. Wanna come down now?"

"Uh, yeah, sure." Peter said with a nod, climbing out of bed. "I just wanna get ready really quick, okay? I’ll be down in a minute." 

"Yeah, okay kid." Tony said, nodding. "Be quick, or else Scott will eat all the food."

Peter’s fake grin grew, and he forced a small laugh. 

Just like the night before, Tony exited the room. Peter threw himself back on the bed with a heavy sigh. This was going to be a long day.

—————

Peter stepped into the elevator, wearing a grey sweatshirt with a blue jacket thrown over his shoulders. He didn’t know why he had it. It wasn’t like he was going anywhere. 

He just felt so ... cold, so empty. 

The jacket was somewhat comforting. 

Tony met him at the elevator once Peter reached his level. He, Tony, was wearing his normal clothes, with sunglasses. He always wore sunglasses. Peter just wondered what he was hiding behind them. Exhaustion... perhaps? Maybe depression? 

Peter didn’t know, and honestly didn’t know if he wanted to. 

"Hey, kid." Tony greeted, his voice low as the two began walking. 

"Hey," Peter replied.

"You ready?" Tony asked. 

Peter shrugged, then nodded. "Yeah, yeah I guess."

They stopped by a room, Tony turned around to look at him straight in the eyes.

"Okay, so in this room, is the rest of the Avengers, every single one of them, including some new guys who may or may not be joining the team." Tony warned. 

"Wait, every single one of them?" Peter asked.

"Every. Single. One." 

Peter’s eyes widened, and he mouthed. "Wow."

"I already told them about you," Tony assured him again. "About the accident, about May, I told them everything. Everything except for Spider-Man, but I thought you could handle that. I mean, you told your aunt and Ned."

"N-no, I didn’t." Peter replied. "They sort of found out, without me telling them."

Tony stared at him for a minute, but decided not to ask anymore questions that topic. It was obvious the kid didn’t want to talk about his aunt right now. Tony sighed, "So, are you ready, kid?" 

"No," Peter answered honestly. "I don’t think I’ll ever be ready, honestly."

Tony laughed. "You’ll do fine, kid. They don’t bite."

Peter gave a nervous grin, and the two headed into the room. Peter couldn’t help but feeling a little—okay, a lot—anxious to meet all of the Avengers. His heroes. The people he fought eight months ago in Germany. 

This would definitely be ... interesting.

—————

"Can you believe Tony adopted a kid?!" Clint asked, sitting down at the huge table in the dining room with everyone else. "I mean, I just never took him as a guy who’d be good with kids. He’s too impatient!"

"Yeah, I never took him as one, either." Rhodey said. "But people change, and we all certainly changed. So I’m not too surprised."

"Did he say how long he’d be staying?" Steve asked. "And most importantly, how old he actually is?"

"No, he didn’t." Sam replied. "Which is why I’m worried. What if this ‘kid’ is a child? Or worse, what if he’s basically an adult who could very easily turn us in to someone?"

Wanda made a face. "I don’t think he’d do that. You guys are just being paranoid."

"Maybe," Natasha said, shrugging. "But after the accords and everything, we have to be more careful. Anything could put us back on the wanted list."

"Where do you think Tony met this kid anyway?" Scott asked. "I’m honestly more worried for the kids-sake then I am for ours. Once you’re into something like this, anyone can get to you." Scott shook his head. "I just don’t think a child should be living here with people who are always first on the bad guys kill list."

"Well it’s not like he has any other choice," Wands replied. "Remember what Tony said, about his family? He has nobody. Does it sound familiar? I’m sure if he did have someone, he’d be staying with them, instead of here, with us."

Everyone went silent; Tony told them he and his family were in an accident, and his family (very sadly) didn’t make it. But they didn’t realize that quite a few of them had been stuck in a situation where they lost loved ones and family. 

"I agree with Wanda," Bruce stated simply.

"Yes, I also agree." Thor replied. "I believe we should give the child a chance."

"Yeah," Clint said after a minute, nodding. "Even if he does turn out to be evil, it’s not like we can’t deal with him. We’re the Avengers, for goodness sakes! We’ve fought aliens, robots, and each other, we can handle anything!"

"I agreed with you until you threw in that last part." Steve joked, in which he was sent a glare from Clint. "Let’s just try to trust him, and if he comes off where he can’t be trust, we’ll kindly ask him to leave."

"Kindly? Ask?" Bucky asked. "Sheesh, Steve, you really are the nicest old man alive." 

Steve sent him a small glare, which was soon followed by a smile.

Tony walked into the room and sat down in one of the empty seats, ignoring how his team gave him anxious stares. Whenever he finally looked up at them, they started throwing questions at him.

"Where’s the kid?" 

"Yeah, isn’t he coming down?"

"Did you kick him out already?"

"Okay, okay, enough." Tony said, sighing. "I did not kick him out, the kid is coming down in a minute, he just wanted to get ready." Tony stood up, walking towards the kitchen counter and pouring himself a cup of coffee. "Now, what were you heathens talking about before I walked in?"

"We were talking about you and the kid." Clint answered for everyone. 

Tony sighed. "Thats what I was afraid of. Let me guess, you guys don’t think I can take care of him?"

"That, and they’re also afraid he can’t be trusted." Wanda replied. "I agree with the first part. Second, not so much. I believe they’re just being paranoid."

"I can take care of the kid and he can be trusted." Tony insisted. "He’s a good kid. I’ve known him for quite awhile now." Tony sat back down at the table with his coffee. "He’s also really smart, so I think you guys and him will get along just fine, Stephan, Bruce."

"Oh great." Clint mused. "Another nerd. This place is just being taken over by them, isn’t it?

"You’re just jealous because you aren’t as smart as us." Stephan replied.

"Well, I for one can’t wait to meet him." Steve replied, changing the subject. "Where is he, anyway?"

"Like I said, he’s getting ready." Tony informed. "And before he comes down, can you guys promise me that won’t ask him a crapload of questions? A few, fine. But not too much." 

That sentence was followed by a few grumbles, and sighs, but they all made the promise that they wouldn’t harass the kid as soon as he walked in.

"Sir, Mr. Parker is currently on the elevator. He’s headed for this level." 

Tony grinned. "I’m going to go wait for him. Be right back."

And then Tony left.

"How long do you think he’ll last?" Sam asked. 

"I’d bet three, maybe five days." Bucky replied. 

"Really? I bet fifty bucks he only lasts two days." Steve replied, Bucky grinned. "What about you, Sam?"

"Hmm, a day—no, half a day. And I’d add fifty to that."

"I’m with Sam." Clint announced. "And why don’t you just add another hundred?"

"I bet he lasts until the kid goes to college." Rhodey stated, smiling. "And how about we add five hundred more to that."

They all grinned. "You’re on."

"Losers have to buy everyone food for three whole months!" 

Everyone went quiet when Tony walked in with a kid. He had brown hair and brown eyes, and was probably around the age of fourteen. It definitely didn’t look like he was just in an accident. He showed no signs of injuries at all.

"Everyone, I’d like you to meet Peter, like I said he’ll be staying with us for awhile." Tony introduced, gesturing towards the young boy who stood beside him. 

Everyone greeted him, although it was a little awkward.

Tony nodded. "And Peter, I’d like you to meet The Avengers—along with the few others who may or may not be joining the team that I told you about."

Peter offered a smile. It was obviously fake. Nobody pointed it out, though.

"So, you’re Peter?" Steve asked as Tony and the kid sat in the empty chairs. 

"Yes," The kid, Peter, answered. "It’s Peter. Peter Parker."

Steve grinned again. "Tony’s told us a lot about you." Steve stated, causing the boy to blush slightly. Peter didn’t expect Tony to talk about him. "It’s nice to finally meet you."

"Y-you too," Peter replied. "I’m a huge fan, Mr. Captain America, Sir."

Steve chuckled, "Oh please, call me Steve."

"O-okay, Mr. Steve Captain America, Sir."

It wasn’t until he said it that he realized that Captain America did not mean it that way.

Tony frowned. "Traitor."

"So, kid, where are you from?" Steve asked, ignoring Tony’s snarky comment.

"Uhmm, Queens." Peter answered simply. 

Immediately he cursed himself. He and Steve had the exact same conversation during the battle in Germany— Now he was going to know who he was!

Steve stared at him for a minute, but shrugged it off. Peter felt almost relieved.

—————

Breakfast went by painfully slow and quiet. After Peter made the mistake of saying where he was from, nobody asked anymore questions. Maybe it was because Tony told them not to, or maybe because they could sense how awkward Peter was becoming.

Peter didn’t really know, and honestly, didn’t care. 

He was grateful when everyone finished their breakfast, and he was even more grateful when they all got up and left the room. 

"Hey, kid," Tony said, leaning in closer towards Peter; Tony had decided to stay back with the kid, but Peter didn’t mind. Tony wasn’t a stranger to Peter like the rest of the Avengers were. And in all honestly, Peter enjoyed his company. And at the moment he really needed someone to stay with him. "You’ve barely touched your food. Does it taste alright? I think Clint was trying to teach Wanda and Vision how to cook, so if it isn’t good then blame them." 

Peter almost laughed at the final part, but he couldn’t find the strength to do so. Sheesh, crying and not sleeping at night sure does take a lot out of a person, even if they are a superhuman. 

"It tastes fine," Peter replied. "I just don’t feel very hungry right now."

"You’ve been saying that for a week now, Peter." Tony said quietly. 

"I’m just not hungry." Peter said with a shrug.

"You have to eat something." Tony suddenly said. "Do you not want this? I can go get you something else. How about pizza? Or Thai?"

Peter broke eye contact.

Tony sighed. "Is something wrong, Pete? You can tell me anything."

Peter stared back at him.

"Yeah, I get it. Dumb question." Tony replied. "But you need to eat something. It’s not healthy for you to go this long without eating, especially when you’re a growing boy who just so happens to be a superhuman."

Peter sent him a silent glare.

"...Do you want to talk?" Tony asked. "I’m not very great when it comes to comforting, but you need comforting right now. So, do you want to talk? It might help you feel a bit better."

"No." Peter said simply, and honestly, a bit too fast. "No, I’m good. I-I don’t really know how to talk about feelings either, y’know? So I guess..." Peter paused, sighing. "I’m okay. I just... I just can’t eat when I’m upset."

Tony nodded, completely understanding what he meant. After his parents died, he refused to eat. If Tony remembered correctly, he went a little over two weeks without eating anything at all. 

Of course, Tony wouldn’t let Peter go that long, but he knew that it was hard to eat while mourning a death. 

"You do have to eat something sometime," Tony stated. "Aunt May... she would’ve wanted you to continue living. If she knew you weren’t taking care of yourself, she would be upset."

Peter was silent.

"Okay, well I’m going to my workshop." Tony replied. "Um, if you need anything, go get me or ask Friday. Got it?"

Peter nodded. Tony hesitated but stood up, then walked out of the room.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Not the best, but it’s better then the last two (I think). Hope y’all enjoyed!


	4. Life After Death

_His head throbbed as he tried to open his sore eyes. Pain was the first thing he was aware of. He tried to think back on what happened; why he was in so much pain, but he couldn’t. He finally managed to pry his eyes open, and immediately regretted it._

 

_Peter found himself upside down in a car, the windows and windshield being busted in. A huge truck had crashed into the passengers side— his side. It was a miracle he was awake, or even alive for that matter._

_Why was he in a car?_

 

_He tried to remember what happened. He couldn’t. Not much of a surprise._

 

_Goodness, his head hurt. Why did it hurt so much? Oh right, he was in an accident. Probably had a concussion. That’d explain why his head throbbed so much and he kept forgetting. W_

_hy was the car upside down? Yeah, that’s right, the truck._

 

_Suddenly a thought came to him, making his stomach churn. He was in the passengers seat, meaning someone else was driving._

Aunt May.

 

_Was she okay? Where was she? Why were they in the car?!_

 

_Peter hesitantly turned his head despite the pain, and the sight made him sick. Aunt May sat in the drivers seat, bleeding from a deep cut on her forehead. Bruises covered her pale face, oh my gosh she was so pale. Her eyes were closed, as if she were sleeping. "May!" Peter cried out weakly. "May! Aunt May! Wake up!"_

 

_She didn’t respond._

 

_He tried to move, tried to get up so he could go to her. But he couldn’t. Couldn’t move, couldn’t think. Couldn’t breathe. He couldn’t do anything._

 

_In that moment, he felt helpless. "May!" he sobbed. "May please! Please wake up!" When she still didn’t respond, his sobs grew louder. Peter screamed._

_For help, for her to open her eyes, for anything._

 

_No help came._

 

_She never opened her eyes. Nothing happened. His sobs and screams grew quiet, he stared at her despite his tears. "Please... don’t leave me." Peter begged, his conscious coming and going. As his eyes began to close, he didn’t care that they might never open again. He kind of hoped they didn’t, honestly. His conscience began to fade, he mustered all his strength to say, "I love you, Aunt May." knowing it’d probably be his last sentence to her._

 

_His eyes fluttered shut._

 

 

 

His eyes fluttered open.

 

A thin layer of sweat coated his tear stained face, whilst his breathing was quick and panicked. Peter sat himself upright, trying to calm himself from the nightmares.

 

This had been the eighth one this week.

 

All of them were the same.

 

Once his breathing finally evened out and he calmed down, he sobbed. He was alone, he didn’t bother trying to be strong in this moment.

 

Tony practically ran into the room to check on Peter, finding him crying. He hesitated, but then sat on the bed beside him. "Hey, Pete? Are you alright?"

 

"Why did she have to go?" Peter managed. "Why does everyone I love die?"

 

Tony didn’t say anything. He didn’t know what to say. Peter had lost so much in the fifteen years he’d been alive. First, his parents died, then his uncle was murdered right in front of him, and to top it all off, his aunt died in an accident. Without having to think, he wrapped his arms around the poor boy, and hugged him tightly.

 

"I don’t know," Tony said after awhile. "I wish I did, but I don’t. But, you don’t deserve this, and I wish I could bring them back, I really wish I could, but I can’t. I’m so sorry that you have to go through this."

 

It was quiet for awhile, Tony just continued to hug Peter and Peter didn’t seem to mind.

 

"I’m sorry," Peter murmured, Tony moved away slightly to give him space. "I didn’t mean to wake you, I’m sorry."

 

"You didn’t wake me." Tony assured. "I was already up."

 

"What time is it?" Peter asked.

 

"Seven-thirty." Tony stated. "I was just about to wake you up. Everyone’s up, and they made breakfast, if you’re interested."

 

Peter nodded.

 

"Are you sure you’re okay? Because it’s fine if you’re not." Tony replied. "If you want, you can talk to a counselor. It doesn’t even have to be a counselor. It could be anyone."

 

"I-I’m good." Peter said. "I’ll be down in a bit."

 

"Yeah," Tony nodded, standing up. Peter watched him as he walked towards the door and brought his hand towards the handle. Tony froze, his hand hovering. He turned towards Peter with a sad expression. "Um, the funerals in two hours, remember."

 

Peter nodded. "Yeah, I know."

 

Tony offered one last glance and a sad smile before he left the room.

 

Peter fell back onto the bed.

 

He was not prepared for this day.

 

—————

 

The funeral was nice.

 

It was sunny out, not one cloud in the beautiful blue sky. The weather was nice, too. It wasn’t hot, but it wasn’t cold either. May would’ve liked it, Peter thought. She always liked days like that.

 

And maybe, if it were under better circumstances, Peter would have liked it, too.

 

A lot of people showed up.

 

Friends, coworkers, even her two siblings.

 

Sadly, she wasn’t very close with her family. It wasn’t their fault, really. It was Peters. She could never visit them because of Peter. Because he needed someone to watch him and take care of him.

 

They didn’t have enough money to travel.

 

And it was Peter’s fault.

 

She couldn’t even see her friends anymore.

 

She hadn’t seen her friends and family since Ben passed away. They’d attended the funeral. Everyone knew and loved Ben. He was always so nice, even when he was having a bad day. They’d been so sad after his passing.

 

Little did they know both deaths were Peters fault.

 

If they knew, they’d probably hate him.

 

The thought didn’t bother Peter, mostly because he also hated himself as well. Heck, he probably hated himself more than they hated him. He sat back and let them die. He just watched their lives slip away before his very eyes and didn’t do anything.

 

And he had his powers.

 

He could’ve done something, anything, to stop them from dying.

 

"Hey, Peter."

 

Peter quickly wiped his eyes.

 

With a bit of hesitation, he turned around, being face to face with the voice.

 

Peter sighed in relief. "Ned,"

 

Ned offered a smile, but it didn’t reach his eyes.

 

He and May always got along. He actually considered her one of his best (and only) friends. She was almost like his aunt, too. Just the thought of never seeing her or hearing her voice again made him sick.

 

"How are you doing?" Ned asked.

 

Peter gave a humorless laugh. "My last living family member died, how do you think I’m doing, Ned?" Ned flinched, Peters eyes widened and he immediately felt guilty. "I’m sorry, Ned. I’m just-"

 

"It’s okay," Ned replied. "I understand. That was a stupid question."

 

"No, it wasn’t." Peter stated. "I-I shouldn’t have said that. I’m sorry. I just- I can’t believe she’s actually gone."

 

"I can’t either." Ned said, his voice low. "It seems unreal, honestly. I keep needing to pinch myself to make sure I’m actually awake and not having a nightmare."

 

Peter kept his eyes glued to the ground.

 

"Um, I have to get going." Ned stated, regret in his voice. "I just wanted to say bye to you real quick before I left." Peter nodded. "Yeah, I’m sorry. Um.. will you be alright?"

 

"In time, maybe."

 

Ned nodded. "Well, talk to you later, I guess."

 

"Yeah, later," Peter replied, nodding.

 

"Call me anytime, okay?" Ned said. Peter watched as Ned walked off to his car with his mom, and waved before the two climbed inside.

 

"Hey kid," Tony greeted, stepping up behind Peter. Peter turned around to him, blinking away the tears that already formed in his eyes. He placed a comforting hand on the boy’s shoulder, asking: "You ready?"

 

Peter nodded once again, wiping his eyes with his sleeve.

 

Tony guides him to the familiar black car in the parking lot, opening the door and sliding inside beside Peter. Peter’s focus rests easily on the window, watching as they left the funeral home.

 

—————

 

Peter was stuck in a loop.

 

At least, that’s what it felt like. He’d wake up, get dressed, go to the kitchen with the Avengers, completely ignore his food, then go back to his room until lunch and dinner (not that he ate that, either.) and cry.

 

Everyday was the same. Filled with tears, and loneliness. It was all the same.

 

One day, however, was different.

 

Peter wakes up from his nightmare-filled sleep like he normally does and goes down to breakfast. Doesn’t sound very different, now does it?

 

But it is.

 

This time he forces himself to eat. He only eats half a waffle and one, small, piece of bacon, but he eats. And afterwards, he goes back to his room.

 

But he doesn’t stay.

 

Peter quietly sneaked out of his room, dressed in one of his science-y shirts with a pun on it, hair cleaned and brushed, actually looking presentable for the first time since the funeral over a week ago.

 

Steve looked up, as did everyone else in the room.

 

Peter shifted uncomfortably, putting his hands in his pockets and glancing down then back up. "Um, h-hey," he greeted awkwardly. "Do you know where-where Mr. Stark is? I can’t find him."

 

"He’s in his lab," Steve replied awkwardly.

 

Peter turned around, ready to leave the room. He didn’t know where he’d go. To see Tony, or go back to his room. All he knew was, he couldn’t stay here. Steve, Wanda, Clint and Bruce were in here. Bruce wasn’t terrible, but he didn’t feel comfortable hanging out with Cap’s team, and he definitely didn’t want to disturb anyone.

 

"No, wait!" Steve said,. "You don’t have to go, you can hang out in here if you’d like. Tony might be working on some project, may have the lab closed off."

 

"Yeah," Peter nodded. "Um, I don’t— I don’t wanna get in your all’s way."

 

"You won’t be in anyone’s way," Bruce said, joining the conversation. "Honestly, we barely see you anymore, and you never speak when we do. It’d be nice to get to know you. ‘Cause, well, Tony’s told us a lot about you. Sound like a nice kid."

 

Peter couldn’t help the small smile from forming on his lips. "Thanks," he replied.

 

After awhile, he casually walked towards the sofa and sat down, ignoring the stares he received. He sat beside Scarlet Witch, The Scarlet Witch, without a single thought. She, much like everyone else, stared at him.

 

He definitely felt uncomfortable, that’s for sure.

 

"H-hey," Peter said, waving awkwardly, in hopes she’ll take her gaze off of him.

 

She finally looks away, but Peter still can’t help but feel uncomfortable. He’s sitting in a room with superheroes he fought against. And the worst part is, he’s in there as himself. As Peter Parker. The boy whose whole entire family died in such awful ways. So they give him pity looks, be nice to him because they feel bad.

 

"So, Pete, how do you know Tony?" Clint asked. "Did he hire you for publicity? Are you just some charity case he picked up to people think he has a heart?"

 

"Clint,"

 

"It’s fine," Peter insisted. "And no, I’m not a charity case. I’m an intern. Just an intern, that’s it."

 

"Just an intern?" Steve asked.

 

"Hm, I didn’t even know he had interns." replied Bruce. "And how he spoke about you... didn’t sound like you were ‘just an intern’."

 

"Pfft, if I didn’t know better, I’d say you were Stark’s secret son!" Clint piped.

 

"Well, you do," Peter said, voice stern. "And I’m not. I’m just one of his interns— which he does have!— who he took in because he has a heart."

 

"Okay, okay," Steve nodded. "How about we not harass the kid with questions, alright?"

 

"You were asking questions, too." Peter muttered. Steve threw him a questioning glance, but didn’t say anything. Instead, he sighed, and silence fell upon the room.

 

"I have a kid around your age." Clint said, sparking Peter’s interest.

 

"Really?" Peter asked. "Um, how...how old?"

 

"Eight,"

 

Peter glowered at him. "I’m fifteen."

 

"Oh?" Clint questioned, not convinced. "You don’t really look like it."

 

"Well, I am." Peter shot back. "And I’ll be sixteen in two months."

 

"Don’t be too hard on him," said Steve. "You do look a little on the young side."

 

"Well, so do you, and you’re ninety-nine, old man." replied Peter.

 

They stared at him for awhile, until: "You hang around Tony too much." Bruce said, looking up from the book he was reading.

 

Peter shrugged, but didn’t argue.

 

It was pretty much true.

 

"Anyway," Clint said. "Tony didn’t give us much, just said you’d be staying here and your aunt passed away. I’m so sorry about that last part, by the way."

 

Peter nodded, blinking away the tears that threatened to spill from his eyes. "Um, yeah." he said. "There’s not much to tell. I’m just kid, from Queens." Who is also a Spider-Man remains unspoken. "Nothing much goes on in my life. Pretty normal." Except I’m cursed and everyone I know and love dies, does too.

 

Wanda stared at him again, remaining silent, as was everyone else. Peter felt awkward again. He hated when the attention was on him without the mask. He was Peter Parker then. The awkward fifteen year old with so many secrets and only one friend. When he had the mask on, he was Spider-Man. The mouthy vigilante who stopped muggers andhelped people cross the street safely.

 

"When do you go back to school?" Bruce asked suddenly, breaking Peter’s train of thought.

 

"Huh? Oh," Peter said. "next week. It was supposed to be this week, but the doctor said to wait another week."

 

"That’s good." Bruce said. "I thought three weeks didn’t sound like a lot."

 

"Yeah," Clint agreed. "though, I have to say, for someone who was in a crazy accident, you don’t look very injured." Steve, Bruce, and Wanda shot him a look. "I’m just saying."

 

Peter looked down. "Yeah," he said, voice low. "well my aunt got the worst of it."

 

Everyone fell silent; Steve, Bruce, and Wanda still glaring at Clint, who suddenly looked extremely guilty.

 

"I’m sorry," Clint said after awhile. "I shouldn’t have said that."

 

Peter didn’t reply.

 

That’s when the elevator door opened, and Tony walked in.

 

"Hey, Peter, I just wanted to know where your sui— hey!" Tony said, stopping himself from finishing the sentence when he noticed the others company. "Um, what are you guys doing here?"

 

"Hanging out," replied Clint. "This is still where we hang out, right? This room?"

 

"Um, Peter," Tony said suddenly, turning his attention to the boy on the couch. "Fri told me you were in here. Is everything alright?"

Peter nodded slightly. "Yeah, um, I was just looking for you, and they said you were in the lab so I decided to wait for you in here."

"So, you finally got out of your room?" Tony asked. "That’s good. I was about to have Friday lock you out in the day."

"Well, the walls started closing in on me." Peter replied. "Anyway, you said you wanted something?"

"Yeah," Tony nodded. "Um, I wanted to see your... suit."

Peter stared at him, confused and sort of surprised; Tony gave a look, and immediately he realized what he meant. 

He wanted to add upgrades to the suit.

"Oh, yeah, my suit." Peter said, playing along so his identity wasn’t revealed. "My suit, the one I wore to-"

"—The funeral," Tony added.

"Yeah, I tripped and fell." Peter said, turning to the others. 

"Really messed up your knee." Tony said. 

"It ripped the pant leg pretty bad, too." Peter stated. "And my shirt-"

"—Was covered in mud and completely torn." 

"Oh?" Bruce asked. "Is your knee okay now? I could look at it if you-"

"—Oh, it’s just a nasty bruise." Tony replied. "Already going away."

"Um, yeah I’m fine." Peter insisted, then stood up. "Ned gave me homework to catch up on at the funeral. I’m going to go finish it up. I’ll give the suit to you when I’m done, alright?"

"Oh no, I could go grab it now." Tony insisted.

The four watched as they exited the room, staring at them, all confused. 

Bruce was the first one to speak, "Did they just... lie to us?"

"Yep," everyone agreed.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Not the best chapter, but hey, I’m trying.
> 
> I wrote this one like two weeks ago, so I promise you guys I’m not rushing these. Each chapter took a long time to write, and I’m actually kind of proud of this story so far. 
> 
> Archive was giving me problems so sorry if there’s any errors.
> 
> Thanks for reading, hope y’all enjoyed!


	5. The One Where Tony Was Annoying

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Peter goes back to school; Tony’s annoying; Peter and the Avengers bond.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for the wonderful feedback! 
> 
> It really means a lot, I definitely didn’t except this story to go anywhere, honestly. I’m really glad you guys like it, I was afraid I’d be writing these characters wrong and making these horrible mistakes. 
> 
> You’re all great!
> 
> ((I don’t know what to name this chapter, suggestions would be appreciated,

Peter quickly ate breakfast, rushing to finish his food. Everyone stared at him; some wondering what his rush was while some knew exactly what it was. As soon as he was finished, he hopped up from his seat and rushed to the other room.

"What’s his problem?" asked Natasha.

"He’s going back to school today." Tony informed them, "I think he’s excited."

Peter quickly ran into the room, almost tripping a few times, "I’m ready," he stated once he came to a stop, out of breath. 

"Sir, Mr. Hogan is currently waiting outside," Fridays voice announced.

"And apparently right on time," Tony said, "Uh, yeah, he’ll be on his way, Fri." 

"Very well, Sir."

"Okay, kid." Tony said, "Want me to walk you out, come with you, or just stay here?"

"Uh, whatever you want." Peter replied, "You could stay here if you’re busy, but you could come... if you’d like?"

"I’ll come," Tony stated, standing up, "I haven’t seen Ted in awhile."

"It’s Ned, but yeah." Peter corrected as the two walked off, "He’d totally freak out if he saw you. He’s a bit of a fangirl."

Peter’s voice echoed throughout the hall, followed by a small laugh from Tony. 

Yeah, the kid was definitely not ‘just an intern’.

—————

Ned sat impatiently outside of the school, waiting for his friend. The four weeks Peter had been gone had been the longest weeks of his life. They weren’t awful, considering Peter’s week had most likely been a lot worse, but they definitely weren’t great. Flash gave him a lot of problems, calling him new names and asking him hurtful questions about Peter. 

So, as soon as a car parked outside of the school and the door opened to reveal Peter Parker, he was pretty excited.

"Peter," he said, meeting Peter halfway as his guardian— Tony freaking Stark— walked him to the front of the school. "How are you?"

"Good," Peter shrugged. "Glad to be back at school."

"Okay, kid." Tony said. "I’ll see you later. Think you’ll be alright?"

Peter nodded. "I’ll be fine, thanks Mr. Stark."

Ned watched as Tony Stark— Iron Man— patted Peter’s arm, walked back to the car and climbed inside then drove off. "Oh my gosh, I can’t believe Iron Man is your father!"

"He’s not my father," Peter said, "He’s just my guardian."

Ned nodded. "Right. Sorry." he stated, "Anyway, how have you been?"

"I guess I’ve been okay," Peter said, shrugging, "I miss Aunt May, but I’m happy to be back at school. I missed it, and I missed you and MJ and, surprisingly, everyone else."

The bell rang, and the two friends headed inside.

—————

Tony was annoying.

Every minute, he would stand up from where he was sitting at the moment, and walk across the room to a new seat. He kept pacing around and muttering stuff under his breath, driving people up the wall. 

It was torture being around him.

No one said anything, because honestly, Tony could be a real drama queen when he wanted to. If you asked what was wrong, he’d say over the top dramatic. Everyone learned to not ask him questions when he was like this.

Tony groaned, standing up and moving across the room for the eightieth time that day. 

Okay, that’s it. Natasha would kill him if he continued this, she had to say something. "Oh my gosh!" she exclaimed, "Tony, what the heck is wrong?" 

"Oh nothing," Tony insisted, "Just my kid is all alone in this cruel world."

Everyone stared at him, then: "What?" Steve asked, but Tony failed to answer. Instead, he moved across the room again, then slumped against the wall and laid down.

"Someone go get Pepper, she speaks Stark," Wanda said suddenly. 

"She’s not here," Tony said, "she had some sort of conference thing today."

"Then what the heck is wrong, Stark?" Clint asked, annoyed by his behavior.

"Peter went back to school today," Tony finally told them, "It’s the first time since the accident, I don’t know if he’s ready."

So that’s what it is, everyone thought, that’s why Stark has been so irritating today.

"Okay, so you’re worried for the kid," Scott said, "I understand that. But I’m sure he’s fine, it’s just school. It’s not like he’s out fighting crime or anything."

Tony made a noise, but no one questioned it. Tony was weird, especially now. 

"Yeah, and if something does go wrong, they’d call you." Clint told him, "He’s okay, just... calm down. Don’t stress it too much. You’ll be grey by the end of the week if you do."

Tony nodded, "Yeah, yeah, he’s fine." he assured himself. "Thanks guys, I ... I really appreciate it. Sorry if I was being annoying."

"Pfft, was," Bucky scoffed.

"Hey, you want me to have Friday lock you out of the tower ‘cause I’ll do it," Tony warned him.

"Okay, calm down," Steve said, "Anyway, when does the kid get out of school?"

"Well, actually he should be getting out in about... oh crap schools out now!" Tony exclaimed, jumping up then rushing out the door, while saying, "I gotta go get Peter from school!"

"Wow..." Clint said, shaking his head, "He’s the best parent ever!"

"Oh c’mon," Scott said, "Like you never forgot to pick your kids up from school."

Clint considered it for a minute before saying, "Yeah, maybe once or twice?"

"Really?" Scott asked, eyes widening, "I’ve forgot at least ... twenty times."

"No Clint," Natasha shook her head, "Scott is the best parent ever."

Scott smiled, "Thanks!"

—————

Peter placed his backpack on the counter as everyone sat down for dinner. His day had been... okay. It was honestly kind of annoying going back to school, since everyone— including Flash— pitied him for his aunts death. He tried ignoring them, but they wouldn’t stop staring at him and treating him as if he were about to break at any moment. 

With a small sigh, Peter sat down with his plate in the living area where everyone had settled down to eat dinner at. It wasn’t anything big, they just ordered a couple of pizzas for dinner. 

"So," Tony said, putting his piece of pizza down for a second, "How was school today, kid?"

Peter shrugged, "Okay, I guess." he replied. "I mean, there’s these two new students. I didn’t really talk to them much but I think they’re nice. Their names are Gwen Stacy and Harry... something? I don’t remember what they said. Flash threw a pencil at me as they introduce him."

"Flash?" Tony asked, "Who is he and why did he throw a pencil at you?"

"I don’t know," Peter admitted, "he kind of does that sort of thing, I’m okay though."

"If you’re sure," Tony replied, then frowned, "You told me everyone was nice earlier..."

"They were," Peter said, "Flash only threw a pencil at me, and he only did it once. But it’s alright, okay? It’s no big deal."

"It sounds like Flash is a bully," Steve mused, "Has he ever done anything else?"

"No," Peter stated, an obvious lie, "I mean, he’s called me a few names before, but he’s just messing. Everyone messes. It’s fine."

"If you say so..." Tony said, sounding unsure, "If you want, I can go talk to your teachers, just so he stops bugging you."

"He’s not bugging me," Peter insisted, "so please drop it."

"Okay," Tony shrugged, "I just wanted to make sure you’re alright. You know you can tell me if you’re being bullied or not, you shouldn’t hide that sort of thing."

Peter sighed, "I’m fine," 

Tony nodded, finally deciding to let it go.

"Um, did everyone have a good day?" Peter asked, attempting to make conversation.

"It was okay," Natasha decided to speak up, "Stark was a bit annoying, but that’s nothing new." Stark threw his plate down and glared at her, but she continued, "Stark, don’t argue with me, you know it’s true."

"Yeah, but..." Tony said, "that’s the best thing you could come up with? I thought I taught you all better then that." 

Natasha rolled her eyes, Peter chuckled slightly, saying, "You should teach a class," he said, "it could be called ‘The School of Snarky Comebacks or Comments,"

"Hm," Tony mused, "Good idea. Friday, add that to my notes."

"On it, Boss."

—————

After dinner, Peter decided to stick around and help clean up (even though everyone told him not to worry about it, they’d get to it later). Peter decided to help anyway, wanting to get to know everyone else.

He and Bruce bonded a lot. Peter told him that he read his papers and really liked them, Bruce was surprised, and the two then went on full nerd. Even Tony was annoyed by the science talks and ended up covering Peter’s mouth to shut him up.

"I can’t breathe," Peter had tried saying, voice muffled due to Tony’s hand pressed against his mouth. 

"What?" Tony replied, "What’s that supposed to be?"

Peter removed his hand, taking a deep breath then looking at him, "I couldn’t BREATHE!" Tony’s eyes widened, Peter sighed, "You were covering my nose too, Mr. Stark."

"Sheesh," Rhodey said, "you’ve had the kid for a month and already you almost killed him. Are you okay, Pete?"

"I’m fine," Peter replied, "and I deserved it, I can get a bit annoying when I turn into a nerd. At least, that’s what MJ says. But she’s just as much as a nerd as Ned and I, though she’d never admit it."

After Tony almost accidentally murdered Peter, the team and Peter went to the cough to talk and bond. Everyone started to really like Peter, the more they got to know him.  
Even Wanda became close with him. He kind of reminded her of Pietro. They were a lot alike, even their names were similar. 

Despite how much fun everyone was having getting to know Peter, it had to end sometime. 

"Okay, Petey-Pie, time for bed, you got school tomorrow."

Peter groaned, "Don’t call me that," he said, "it’s embarrassing."

"That’s why I called you that," Tony replied, "to embarrass you, I’m basically your parent, it’s my job to embarrass you."

Peter pouted, "I don’t wanna go to bed." 

"Now you are being a child." Tony said, "Come on, get up. You’ll regret staying up tomorrow."

"Five minutes?" Peter said, Tony sighed.

"Five minutes, that’s it." Tony replied.

"Okay, well I’m gong to bed, I’m going back home tomorrow for a few days." Clint said, standing up, "Goodnight, you all."

"Night, Mr. Barton," Peter replied.

Soon, everyone else decided to head off to bed, too, leaving behind only Peter and Tony. With a sigh, Tony turned to the boy, "It’s time for you to go to sleep, kid."

"Fine," Peter said, standing up.

"Wow? Really?" Tony said as they walked into the elevator, "No fight this time?"

"What? I’m tired now," Peter stated, then stopped, "Hey, Mr. Stark? I wanted to ask you something, if it’s okay with you."

"Go ahead," Tony said, "But I think I know where this is heading."

"I was wondering... since I’m back at school now," Peter said, "can I maybe go back out as spider-man again? I won’t get hurt, I’ll be safe."

Tony took this into consideration for awhile, then sighed, "I don’t know, Pete. Maybe you should give it a bit more time."

"But," Peter said, "people are dying because I’m not out there. Everyone in school was talking about how Spider-Man hasn’t been seen in over a month."

"Peter," 

"C’mon, Mr. Stark, please? I-I can’t just abandon Spider-Man, he’s apart of me!"

Tony was silent for awhile, but then spoke: "Fine,"

Peter stared at him, confused and very surprised, "What?"

"I said fine," Tony repeated, "do you want me to change my answer? Because I will."

"No!" Peter shook his head, "I just... I’m surprised, y’know? When... when May found out I was Spider-Man, she said no, and then I just snuck out and she found out after someone stabbed me, and decided just to let me go ‘cause she knew I’d go out whether she liked it or not. I wasn’t exactly expecting you to just... give in."

"Someone stabbed you?!" 

"Yeah, but I’m fine!" Peter smiled slightly, "So, are you sure I can go?"

"Yeah," Tony shrugged, "Just... there’s gonna be rules. Okay? Rule one, you’ll have a curfew."

Peter nodded, "Okay, I’m okay with that." Peter said, "May gave me a curfew, too. I had to be in by twelve thirty, no later."

"Okay, well you can keep that curfew," Tony said, "If there’s an emergency and you’ll be out later, then you must call me. Got it?"

"Yeah, got it." Peter nodded again.

"And, if you get hurt, I don’t care if it’s just a tiny bruise or a splinter, you have to tell me." Tony said, "No hiding any injuries, or there will be consequences."

"Like what?"

"Well, there’s death." Peter’s eyes widened, Tony shook his head, "Not by me, by your injuries, Peter. I won’t kill you, sheesh."

"Oh, yeah," Peter said, "I’m sorry... kind of tired, not thinking clearly."

"And I think that’s it," Tony said, "I’ll let you know if I come up with any new rules, but right now, you’re just gonna have those few."

"Okay, great!" Peter said as they reached their floor, "I’m gonna go to bed. Night!"

"No wait," Tony said, stopping him, "You aren’t going out as Spider-Man for another week. I want you to be fully there, and not caught up in your head. Alright?"

"Yeah, alright." Peter nodded, "I’m going to bed, I’m tired. Goodnight, Mr. Stark!"

Tony smiled, "Goodnight, kid."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter isn’t the best. But I thought y’all deserved some lighthearted stuff. So, I hope you enjoyed! 
> 
> ((P.S., if anyone has any ideas for how the team could find out Peter is Spider-Man, then please tell me! I want them to find out soon but I can’t figure out how they would.))


	6. The Mugger

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The Avengers go to dinner while Peter goes out as Spider-Man for the first time since before May’s death; Rhodey and Tony talk.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Probably a little soon... but I got this chapter done earlier then I intended to and decided, hey, why not post it now? No need it making y’all wait. So, hope y’all enjoy!

Peter had his good days and he had his bad, this day was one of his bad days.

The whole Flash being less annoying thing did NOT stick, within the next two days he was back to his old self. Peter tried ignoring him, but he kept trying to get Peter kicked out of the decathlon team. Obviously, MJ didn’t allow that to happen. But it didn’t stop him from being annoying.

Flash shoved Peter down the steps at school. It left a nasty bruise, and this time it wasn’t a lie. Obviously, it went away before Peter and even got home, but it still hurt when he touched it. 

That was last week, this week was worse.

One day, the new kids, Gwen Stacy and Harry Osborn, tried to talk to Peter when he wasn’t feeling up to it. That day just so happened to be one of Peter’s ‘bad days’. He ignored them, although he didn’t want to come off rude.

They didn’t try to talk to him anymore that day, but that doesn’t mean they didn’t try anymore that week. 

Almost everyday that week sucked. Almost everyday in general sucked. But today. Peter was having an okay day. Flash was sick, so he wasn’t in school, Peter got good grades and everything was going his way.

That is, until Gwen Stacy and Harry Osborn decided to snub Peter for giving everyone the cold shoulder. 

"Parker!" Gwen exclaimed, marching towards him with Harry standing beside her. 

"Oh, hey." Peter greeted simply. 

"Oh, so you can talk," Harry said. Peter was confused. "We’ve been trying to talk to you for days now, but you keep ignoring everyone. Like you can’t be bothered or something."

"What?" Peter said, "No, it’s not that! I— okay, I think I know what’s going on."

They didn’t say anything, just waited for him to reply. 

"I haven’t been having the best week. My aunt... well, she passed away," Peter said, looking down at the last part, "I haven’t been meaning to ignore you, but some days I just don’t feel like talking. I’m sorry if I was rude, I really am, and I hope you guys don’t think I’m some idiot who thinks he’s better then everyone."

Harry frowned, "Oh,"

"Well now I feel terrible," Gwen said.

"Don’t," Peter said, "I shouldn’t have ignored you guys despite what I was going through." Peter sighed, then raised his hand and said: "Um, I’m Peter Parker. Nice to meet you."

They shook his hand and greeted themselves.

"Harry Osborn," Harry greeted.

"I’m Gwen Stacy," Gwen greeted with a small smile, "again, I’m really sorry about that. The kids here... they aren’t the nicest, and we sort of got tired of being looked at as weird or being ignored."

"I understand," Peter said, "I mean, I’ve been going to school with these kids for awhile and even I don’t like them. But, I do know two nice people, so if you want you can hang out with us. We’re actually going to my house after school, you’re welcome to join."

"I’ll have to ask my parents, but I’m sure they’ll say yes." Gwen said. 

"Yeah and my dad could care less about where I went or what I did, so I’m in." Harry said just as the bell rang.

"Okay, great!" Peter said, "I gotta get to class, but I’ll hopefully see you guys later."

"Okay, bye!" 

Hm, Peter thought to himself, Maybe this day wouldn’t be so bad after all. 

—————

"Don’t you have to pick up someone from school today, Stark?"

Tony sighed, turning around to face the stupid idiot, "No, Clint. Happy’s got him today." he explained, then got back to his work, "And before you ask, no, I did not abandon him, I had a meeting and I was afraid I wouldn’t get to him in time."

"Okay," Clint nodded, "You know, you could ask one of us to pick him up, if you want. We’d gladly help out if you need us to."

"I’ll definitely take you up on that offer," Tony replied. "thanks."

"No problem," Clint said.

"Weren’t you supposed to spend this week with your family?" Tony asked suddenly. 

"No," Clint said, "That was last week, Stark."

"Oh?" Tony said in a questioning tone. "I honestly didn’t notice you were gone."

Clint didn’t reply, just rolled his eyes and stood up, "I’m going to talk to Natasha. It’s torture to just spend five minutes with you."

"No one told you you had to come in here," 

"I came to get my hearing aids that broke."

"And you got them, so go!"

Clint grumbled, walking into the elevator. Tony sighed, finishing up on one of his projects for the day. That’s when Friday alerted him that Peter was back, so he decided to go down to the lobby so he could greet him.

He was surprised to find Peter wasn’t alone, but instead with four other kids.

One of the kids he recognized as Peter’s best friend, but the other three were new. Two of them were girls, and the other was a boy. They were all around Peter’s age, so he assumed they were his classmates.

"Oh, Mr. Stark!" Peter said, "You know Ned, and I’ve told you about MJ," he motioned towards the three, "and this is Gwen Stacy and Harry Osborn."

"Hello," Tony greeted.

The four children stared at him in awe.

"You didn’t tell me you lived with Tony Stark, Iron Man, the Iron Man!" Harry exclaimed. 

"I guess... I guess I failed to mention that," Peter admitted, "Sorry."

He noticed Ned’s stare, and spoke up, "What’s your problem? You knew I lived with Mr. Stark, you’ve even met him before!"

"Yeah, but..." Ned said, "it still surprises me."

Peter rolled his eyes and laughed, "Anyway, Mr. Stark, if it’s okay with you, we’re all going to hang out in my room."

"Okay," Tony replied, watching as they left. 

Peter Parker having more then two friends. Weird.

—————

Peter stumbled into the room, bleeding from two bullet wounds and a couple of stab wounds.

With Tony’s permission, he had went out as Spider-Man that night after everyone went home and the Avengers were gone. No one felt like cooking and they were all tired of pizza, so they decided why not go out for dinner. Peter turned down the offer to join them, and insisted he had homework to catch up on. 

It was a lie.

But they didn’t need to know that.

Maybe it was a mistake going out as Spider-Man so early. Maybe he should’ve waited longer. Or maybe it was good he went out or really bad things could’ve happened to more people.

Peter didn’t know at that point.

All he knew was he went out, and, mentally, he wasn’t completely there, which led to a couple of muggers who he was trying to web up to get a few shots in.

He managed to get them webbed to one of the buildings in the end with a small note telling the police what they did, but he definitely didn’t get out of the fight unharmed.

So, here he was, stumbling into the Avengers tower with blood on the sweater he had managed to change into before going back home. 

How was he going to explain this to everyone else?

He fell against the wall, then let his eyes slip shut.

—————

The Avengers were making their way into the building after eating dinner out, arguing about who was the better Avenger due to the Buzzfeed article that had been posted earlier that day. Some of them cared more then others, while the people who did not care were very annoyed by them.

"Um, guys?" Sam suddenly said, his attention now focused on the floor, "Is that blood?"

Immediately everyone looked down, and suddenly became very concerned. Tony got a bad feeling in the pit of his stomach, remembering Peter hadn’t went to dinner with them and he was going out as Spider-Man. "Peter!" Tony called, rushing to find his kid.

Everyone else started to call for Peter, but Tony barely heard them. In the corner of his eyes, he saw an unconscious Peter slumped against the wall, blood soaking through his blue sweater.

Tony gasped and ran towards him then knelt down, "Kid? Peter!"

Peter’s eyes snapped open, he tried fighting Tony off, unaware of who was in front of him in the moment. It reminded him of Germany, after Peter fell to the ground and Tony checked on him. He decided to ignore that thought, and instead focused on Peter, who was literally bleeding out in front of him.

"Hey, hey, calm? Guess who? It’s me, Mr. Stark," Tony explained, Peter’s energy gave out and he calmed, "What happened?"

"M-muggers," Peter said, voice weak, "I-I couldn’t fight them off, I tried, but-" he didn’t finish his sentence, but instead coughed many times.

"Okay, Peter," Tony said, then sighed before yelling, "Stephan! Bruce! Get over here!"

It took a few seconds, but soon the rest of the Avengers were walking towards the two. They all looked at the sight, and immediately the doctor and scientist rushed to help him.

"What happened?" Stephan asked.

"Mugged," Tony explained, "I think he was shot or stabbed or-"

"Both," Peter said, somewhat better suddenly. Hm, maybe his healing abilities were starting to kick in already, "They all had weapons, I couldn’t take them down."

"Sheesh," Bruce muttered, "We gotta get him up to the infirmary."

"I assume you can not walk?" Stephan said.

"Oh no, I can walk!" Peter insisted, standing up, "How do you think I-I got here? By f-floating? C’mon, guys, aren’t you supposed to be smart or something?"

Peter almost fell to the ground, but Tony was right there to catch him,"You might’ve walked all the way here from wherever the heck you were, but I’m at least helping you."

"Fine by me," Peter said, "I’m tired anyway,"

"Yeah, well don’t go to sleep until you’re out of real danger," Tony said, helping him walk to the elevator, "I don’t need you dying on me."

—————

"You know, for someone who was mugged and shot, and stabbed, you seem to be handling it very well." Stephan commented, finishing up on taking care of Peter’s wounds. 

Thankfully, they weren’t too severe and Peter wasn’t anywhere close to being on his deathbed. They were actually already starting to heal, that surprised both Bruce and Stephan, but they didn’t ask any questions.

"Oh, um... yeah, I-I’m used to it." Peter said, not knowing what else to say. Obviously, that wasn’t the right answer. Peter closed his eyes, mentally cursing.

Stephan looked at him, confused, "What?"

"How are you used to that stuff?" Bruce asked. 

"What can I say? I used to live in a dangerous neighborhood." Peter replied, a lame attempt at saving himself.

"...Okay?" Bruce said, "Now, you don’t seem to be in any danger but I do think you should stay here so we can monitor you."

"Uh, I’m good." Peter said, "Thanks, but I think I’ll stay in my room tonight."

Bruce stared at him, "That wasn’t an offer, I was telling you, you’re staying here."

"But I have school tomorrow,"

"And you were just shot and stabbed," Stephan said, "You’re not going to school tomorrow, I’ll just tell Stark to tell your friends Noah and Missy."

"First off," Peter began, "Their names are Ned and Michelle, not Noah and Missy— who even are those people? And, second, I’ve missed way too many school days, and I can’t miss anymore. So, can we work something out where I can go to school? I’ll sleep in here tonight."

"No," both Bruce and Stephan said.

"And you’re sleeping in here either way," Bruce stated.

"Yeah, okay, but maybe I could go to school and then I’ll come right back in here?"

"Pete, just drop it." Tony said, sounding upset, "You aren’t going to school tomorrow." 

"But-" Peter sighed, then decided to give up, "Fine."

"Good, now get some rest." Tony replied, "I have to get back to work."

"Wait, Mr. Stark?" Peter said after everyone had left the room, stopping Tony in his tracks, "Uh, are you okay?"

"Uh, yeah." Tony said, "I wasn’t the one who was shot and stabbed while fighting crime."

"I mean, you seem upset?" Peter said in a questioning tone.

"I’m not upset, I’m just glad you’re alive, kid." Tony replied. "And, besides, I should be asking you if you’re okay. What happened out there? Are you okay?"

"I’m great!" Peter insisted, Tony gave him an unconvinced look.

For the last couple of days, Peter had been doing a lot better. Although Tony was happy Peter was in such a great mood, he wasn’t stupid. You don’t just go from depressed and wanting to disappear to happy and making a bunch of new friends in just a couple of weeks.

"I’m alright!" Peter insisted, then sighed, "I’m lying. I’m doing amazing!"

"Peter," Tony said, "You can tell me the truth, you know that, right?"

He sighed again, "I just... I really miss May, and I was trying to stop those muggers by our old apartment and I could see that the lights were on through the window, and I guess... for just a minute, I forgot she was actually gone. I’m Spider-Man now, I can’t let innocent people die just because I’m going through stuff, y’know?"

Tony sighed, rubbing his hands over his face before speaking, "Look, Peter, you’re allowed to grieve, okay? Don’t think just because you’re a superhero that you can’t have emotions."

Peter nodded, "Yeah, um... you’re right, Mr. Stark. Sorry."

"Don’t apologize," Tony said, "And stop calling me Mr. Stark, my name is Tony."

"Okay, Mr— Tony,"

"Mr. Tony is not an option," Tony replied.

Peter laughed, "Yeah, okay, Tony."

"Now, you really need to rest," Tony said, "Just because you aren’t going to school tomorrow doesn’t mean you get to stay up all night."

Peter nodded, then Tony left, calling "Night kid," over his shoulder. 

Peter closed his eyes and then let himself drift off to sleep.

—————

Tony definitely was not okay. 

How could he be okay when Peter, his responsibility, his kid, was somewhere walking home all alone while he bled out. 

It didn’t help that Peter admitted he’d blacked out while fighting crime, and that’s how he got injured. How could he be so stupid. He should’ve known not to let Peter him go out yet. It’s only been what— a month?! He should’ve made him wait longer. He was still grieving. 

May had trusted Tony with her kid, but just one month in with Peter living with him, he already came close to dying. Twice, if you count the time he almost smothered him by accident.

"Tony?"

Tony quickly turned around and sighed, "Rhodey," he said, "what do you need?"

"Well hello to you, too." Rhodey said sarcastically, "I went to go see Peter, he was asleep so I decided to check on you. Are you alright?"

"I’m fine," Tony said, "Why wouldn’t I be fine? I’m not the one who was almost killed."

"Okay, so maybe you weren’t, but your kid was." Rhodey said, "You’re really worried about him, aren’t you?"

"Yeah, of course I am," Tony said, "I’ve been his guardian for what— a month? And already, he’s out getting shot and stabbed and almost dying. May trusted me with him and I already failed him."

"Tony, you couldn’t have stopped that from happening, you weren’t there." Rhodey said, "And, these things happened. Peter’s okay now, he’s safe. So stop worrying so much."

Tony nodded, "I guess... you’re right. Thanks, Rhodey."

"No problem, Tony." Rhodey replied, "And besides, the kid said he was staying in anyway but he snuck out. It’s not your fault."

"Um, it may be a little my fault," Tony admitted.

"...What do you mean, Tony?" 

"You know... that kid who was fighting alongside us back in Germany?" Tony asked.

Rhodey nodded, "Yeah, Spider-Man, I remember him. You called him Underoos."

"Yeah," Tony said, "Well, Spider-Man— Underoos, might be... well, is, Peter."

Tony waited for his reaction. For a giant freak out. For something. But instead of that, Rhodey was quiet for a moment, sighed and stared directly into his eyes, then shrugged, "I kinda knew,"

"What?!" Tony exclaimed.

"You guys don’t exactly whisper when you talk," Rhodey said, "I’m surprised not everyone knows. Like, just the other day, something about Spider-Man came on the news and he yelped and ran out of the room."

Tony sighed, embarrassed for the boy, "I really need to help him keep his identity a secret." he said. 

"Yeah, you do." Rhodey agreed, "Um, and I have a question."

"Shoot," 

"Does Pepper know about Peter?" 

"Okay, so I’m gonna go check on Peter," Tony said.

"Tony," Rhodey sighed.

"No," Tony admitted, "She doesn’t. I haven’t told her yet."

"She’s your fiancé,"

"So?" Tony said, "It’s not like she’s my wife!"

"She will be!" Rhodey exclaimed, "Goodness, Tony, why haven’t you told her yet?"

Tony shrugged, "I don’t know! She hasn’t been around much, and I think she deserves to hear in person." he explained. "But I’ll tell her next time I see her."

"Doesn’t she come in next month?" Rhodey asked.

"Oh, well I have meetings—"

"Tony," Rhodey said, "You except me to believe that you have meetings every single  
day that month?" 

"I’m Tony Stark," Tony said.

"So?"

"I’m a busy man,"

Rhodey sighed, "If you don’t tell her next month, I will."

"Rhodey!" Tony shouted, startling the other man, "I will tell her. Don’t threat me like that ever again."

"Okay, good." Rhodey replied.

"Now, if you’re done demanding me to do things, then I’m gonna go to my lab." Tony said.

"Tony, it’s eleven at night."

"I’m Tony Stark!" Tony replied, "I don’t sleep, I drink coffee and alcohol and I’m fine!"

"That’s unhealthy!" 

"Bye Rhodey!" Tony called.

Rhodey sighed, "Bye, Tony."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Just so you guys know, I’m not just throwing this together, I’ve had this planned out for some time now and already know how it’ll end. It’s the first time one of my stories have actually been somewhat organized.
> 
> Also, should I have an updating schedule for this? Or should I just update whenever I have a chapter finished? Anyway, it may be sometime before I update again (I have other stories on my WattPad that I haven’t updated in a long time), so this chapter was sort of... long.
> 
> I really hope I’m writing Harry and Gwen right. In the comics, Peter met them while his aunt was sick in the hospital, so I decided now would be a good time for the three to finally bond and get to know each other.
> 
> Thank you for reading, sorry for the long authors note, and I hope you enjoyed :)


	7. Sleep

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Steve and Tony talk; Pepper returns from her three-month-long buisness trip.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello! I’m back 

Tony rubbed a hand over his tired face. He hadn’t been getting much sleep ever since he took Peter in— not that he did before Peter came into his life, he just seemed to get even less sleep now. He was too busy worrying about the kid. His kid. 

And it didn’t help that his kid was Spider-Man. 

Tony sighed.

"Hey, you doing okay? Tony?" Steve asked, walking over to his friend. 

"I’m fine," Tony insisted, "What are you doing up anyway? What time is it?"

"Three AM." Steve replied as he sat down in a nearby chair, "Couldn’t sleep, and FRIDAY told me you were awake- actually, she told me just about half of everyone here was awake, but I decided to check on you first. You seem stressed lately."

Tony gave a small laugh, "Yeah? I haven’t noticed." 

"Tony..." Steve said, "Are you sure you’re okay? You’ve been a bit more distant than usual. Is everything okay? Are you still upset about... the incident?"

"I’ll always be upset about that, Steve," Tony replied, "But no, it’s not. It’s about Peter."

"What?" Steve asked, "Is he alright?"

"He’s fine," Tony assured, "Well I mean, he’s okay. As okay as someone can possibly be when their last living family member died, but yeah, he’s okay."

"Then what’s wrong?" 

"Well, for starters, I’ve only been his guardian for a few months and he already managed to get himself injured." Tony said, "And then there’s Pepper."

Steve looked at him, "What about her?" 

"I haven’t told her about Peter yet," 

"What?" Steve asked, "Tony! What the heck? Why?"

"I just haven’t gotten around to it," Tony said.

"It’s been two months, Tony." Steve said, "Two months, it’ll be three in a week!"

"I know," Tony sighed, "But I’ve been busy. With May dying and Peter coming to live with me and then everything that happened with the mugger... it just went over my head."

"You have to tell her," 

"Yeah," Tony said, "I know I do, and I will... but I hope she’s not too upset with me."

"I’m sure she won’t be," Steve said, "She’d probably be even more upset if you didn’t take him in."

"That’s true," Tony said, "Anyway, thanks for talking to me, I guess."

"No problem," Steve smiled, "Now, I’m exhausted. I’m going to try and get some sleep before I end up passing out. Night, Tony."

"Night, Cap."

—————

Time seemed to move by quickly at the compound. The time had come when Pepper would return from her two month business trip, and Tony was not prepared. 

Okay, okay, he should’ve told her sooner. But in his defense, he was busy. He had a mourning Spider-Man on his hands who couldn’t seem to get himself out of trouble. So, maybe he forgot about Pepper. Just a bit. But she’d understand, right?

Of course she would. Pepper’s a great person, and her and Peter got along great in the time they knew each other. She even knew about the whole Spider-Man thing. She found out shortly after Germany, and despite the small argument she had with Tony about bringing a child into battle, she was *almost* 100% supportive and promised to keep his identity a secret.

So, yeah, she’d understand. It’s not like she expected Tony to just let Peter go into foster care, especially not with his abilities. 

Tony sighed for the billionth time that day as he stepped off the elevator and onto the floor where Peter and the others were hanging out. He spotted Peter sitting at the table in the kitchen, fumbling around with his spoon. 

"Morning, Pete," Tony greeted, taking a seat down next to him.

"Hey," Peter greeted, sighing.

Tony frowned, "Everything okay?"

Peter shrugged, "Yeah," he said, "I’m just tired, that’s all," He stood up from his seat and took his bowl of cereal to the sink. Tony followed him.

"Did you sleep alright?" 

"Uh... not really," Peter said, rinsing out his bowl, "I couldn’t fall asleep for some reason, and when I finally did get to sleep, I fell out of bed."

"Ha!" Clint laughed from where he sat on the couch. Someone must’ve shoved him cause soon after, there was a thud and then an "Ouch!"

"Are you okay?" Tony asked Peter, ignoring the archers stupidity.

"Yeah, Natasha just shoved me off the couch," Clint replied.

"I did not," Natasha argued, "I glared at you and you fell on your own."

Tony could almost hear him rolling his eyes, "Whatever. It still hurt."

"I’m fine," Peter said, "I just fell, that’s all. I’m fine," he repeated, "Uh, anyway, isn’t Ms. Potts coming today?"

"Yes," Tony said, "And her name is Pepper - just like how my name is Tony."

Peter gave a small grin and looked down, "Sorry,"

"It’s fine," Tony said, "But yes, she’ll be here in a couple of hours."

"Are you finally going to tell her you adopted a child?" Rhodey asked, walking into the kitchen, "Hey kid,"

"Hi Mr. Rhodes," 

"It’s Rhodey,"

"Sorry Mr. Rhodey,"

"Kid no-"

"Oh my gosh," Tony muttered, then said, "Yes! I’m telling her. And before anyone says I should’ve told her sooner, I know. But, I’m Peter’s guardian, so he’s my responsibility, which means I’ve been busy taking care of him and I just forgot about telling her."

"I can take care of myself," Peter insisted.

"You’re fifteen,"

"So?" Peter asked, "You’re old and you can barely take care of yourself."

Tony was quiet for a second, "Yeah, he is spending too much time around me."

—————

Peter wasn’t scared.

There wasn’t any reason for him to be, after all. Sure, his guardians fiancé was coming to town and had no idea that the guardian was even a guardian now. And sure, Peter would most likely be pitied by her because of his aunts death, even though he hated it. The pity. But he wasn’t scared.

Not at all.

Okay, maybe he was scared a little. Or, well, a lot actually. But that didn’t matter.

Tony already said Pepper liked him. Which, only made him more nervous. What if she was just pretending to like him? He’s Tony Starks intern, she has to like him. Right? 

Peter sighed.

"Peter, Boss wanted me to inform you that Ms. Potts has arrived and they are currently waiting for you to come down. Shall I tell them you are coming?"

"Uh," Peter said, "Yeah, sure, Friday."

"Very well,"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I swear the next chapters will be better... and longer... hopefully.


	8. Pepper Potts Return

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Pepper returns from her trip to find out something surprising.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Long time, no chapter! Sorry about that :) 
> 
> Writers block returned and for some reason, it wouldn’t go away. I knew how I wanted this chapter to go, but I just didn’t know how to write it. I really hope this chapter was worth the wait.

The three months Pepper Potts had been gone weren’t the greatest. So when the day finally came where she would return home, she couldn’t help feel just a little ecstatic. Okay, a lot. She was extremely ecstatic. 

She’d been gone for months, and it that time she had barely spoken to Tony once. It wasn’t her fault, and it wasn’t his fault, either. She was just so busy, that she just forgot to make time for him. She did find it a bit odd that he didn’t call her, but she was just about to find out why he didn’t call her.

Happy gave her a ride back to the tower once her plane landed. He was quiet the entire way, but she guessed that wasn’t unusual for him, so she didn’t ask any questions. She was way too exhausted anyway.

Once she reached the tower, she wasn’t as ecstatic anymore. No, now she was just relieved and, for some reason, a bit scared.

Scared? Why was she scared?

If something happened while she was away, Tony would’ve called her to tell her about it, right? Unless… he’s unable to? No, Happy would’ve told her. Someone, would’ve told her. They wouldn’t let her find out like this.

Right?

"We’re here," Happy informed her as he parked the car. He helped her with her luggage and then the two walked towards the tower.

What she wasn’t expecting when she got inside, was to find something did indeed happen while she was away, and that Tony and Happy and just about everyone was hiding it from her.

——

Tony greeted her almost immediately after she got inside the tower. Something was off, but she couldn’t figure what it was. So she ignored it. She hadn’t seen him or heard his voice in three months, maybe it was just that.

"So, how awful was it?" Tony asked, "Bet it was awful."

"What makes you say that?" Pepper laughed.

"Obviously, I wasn’t there," Tony replied jokingly, "So it had to have been terrible."

"Actually," she said, "You’re not really wrong. It was… stressful. I’m just relieved to be back, to be with you."

Tony smiled, "So I was right?" Pepper laughed, "I’m kidding. Well, sorta. But yeah, I’m glad you’re back."

"So," Pepper said, "What about you? What was your three months like?"

"Well…"

"Well?" Pepper asked after awhile, "Well what?"

"These three months have been… interesting."

She raised her eyebrows, "Interesting?"

"Yeah," Tony said, "See... I might’ve adopted a child?"

"You what?!" 

"Calm down!" Tony said, "I had to."

"You had to adopt a child?" Pepper asked, her arms crossed, "Tony, who is this child and why did you have to adopt them?"

"Uh," Tony said, "Fri? Can you ask Peter to come down?"

"Yes Boss,"

"Wait-" Pepper said, "Peter? As in Spider-Man? That Peter?"

"Yeah," 

"You," she began, "Wait a second- you adopted him? Why? What about his aunt?"

Tony went silent.

"Oh no," Pepper said, "Oh gosh, she’s... she isn’t... is she?"

"She is," Tony confirmed, "Her and Peter, they were in a car accident three months ago. Peter survived, she didn’t. He didn’t have anywhere else to go, so I took him in. I’m now his guardian."

"That’s awful," Pepper said,

Tony nodded, then said, "I’m really sorry I didn’t tell you. I’ve been so busy with Peter, that I just forgot."

"It’s fine, Tony, I understand," Pepper said, then gave a slight laugh, "Sheesh, did you expect for me to be angry? Tony, he’s a child. I wouldn’t let a child go homeless, especially not one with powers."

Tony sighed in relief. He’d been stressing about that ever since Rhodey brought it up, and barley slept a wink since. It was nice knowing she wasn’t upset. 

——

When Peter reached his level, it must’ve went unnoticed. 

The doors opened up, and he stepped onto the levels floor. Tony and Pepper were sitting down, talking about something. It wasn’t until he spoke up that the two noticed him, "Um, hey," he greeted awkwardly.

"Ah, Pete," Tony said, standing up from his seat, "There you are."

"Yeah," Peter replied, then turned to Pepper, "Hello, Ms. Potts."

"It’s Pepper, but hi Peter." Pepper said.

Peter nodded, "Uh, Tony? What are we eating for dinner?"

"I don’t know exactly, Natasha and Bucky are making dinner," Tony said, "I was thinking the three of us, we’d eat out, though."

"Does anyone else find it a bit strange that the two scariest assassins in this tower are the best cooks?" Peter asked, "Kind of unsettling. Like what if they get tired of us, and decide to put poison in our food? They probably know of some really deadly poisons. They could get their hands on it and we’d be dead."

"Believe me, kid, if they were going to poison me, they would’ve done it years ago." Tony said, "We’d all probably be dead, actually. Assassins tend to get angry easy, they’re just good at hiding it."

"Speaking of food," Pepper said, amused, "I’m ready to eat whenever you are. So where should the three of us go?"

"If it’s okay, I was thinking of staying here." Peter said, "I have a lot of homework to catch up on. And obviously, you guys have a lot to discuss."

"Oh," Tony said, "Well, if you want to, I guess. It’s all up to you, Pete."

"Yeah, I’m sure." Peter said, "You haven’t seen each other in months, and Tony, you’ve been so busy taking care of me. I think you could use a break."

"Well, that’s sweet, kid." Tony said, "Thanks."

Peter grinned slightly, "No problem."

——

"That doesn’t make any sense!" 

"It does too! He was struck by lightning and he was in a coma for nine months, then when he woke up he had super speed plus lightning. It makes perfectly sense! That could definitely happen!"

"It could not!" Sam argued, "When you’re struck by lightning, you either die or slip into a coma. And if and when you wake up from the coma, you wouldn’t have powers, you’d probably just have complications from being struck by the lightning."

"I can’t argue with you!" Clint said, then turned to the scientist sitting in the room, "Bruce, tell him it’s 100% possible to get powers from lightning!"

"Well," Bruce said, "I have to agree with Sam here; It’d be scientifically impossible for anyone to get powers just by being struck by lightning."

"Says the man who literally turns into a green monster when he gets angry," Sam said, "Stephan? Your thoughts?"

"I don’t want to get into your petty arguments," Stephan said, "However, these past few years have been... interesting, to say the least. So I’d say it could be possible, especially when a source of power is involved at the same time. So, maybe."

"We could test this experiment out," Thor offered, "Any volunteers?"

"Good idea," Sam said, "Clint volunteers."

"What?! No I don’t!" Clint exclaimed, "You’re the one who brought it up."

"I can’t die!" Sam replied, "I’m an Avenger!"

"So am I!" Clint said, "And, I’m a dad. If I die, my kids won’t have a father."

"Clint, look around," Sam said, "Almost everyone in this room lost their dad, and we all turned out fine!"

"I wouldn’t say fine," Wanda said, "We’re all pretty messed up."

"Ha! Wanda’s on my side!"

"I didn’t choose a side,"

"Okay, just stop," Bruce said, "Nobody’s choosing sides, and nobody’s getting struck by lightning. Now, go back, I couldn’t hear what they were saying."

"You didn’t miss anything," Clint said, "Just a bunch of science crap that nobody can understand."

"Uh," Bruce said, "I can understand."

"But we can’t!"

"Oh," a soft voice made everyone turn around. Peter stood in the doorway, fumbling with the fabric on his shirt, "Sorry- I wasn’t.. I wasn’t expecting to see everyone in here. I’ll go in my room. Again, sorry."

"Nah, kid." Rhodey said, "Stay. You need a break from your room."

"Um, okay," Peter replied, "I don’t want to get in anyone’s way, though."

"You won’t," Rhodey insisted, "We’re watching The Flash. Remember? You love this show."

Peter gave a nervous grin, "O-okay." He sat down in the empty seat next to Rhodey; Out of everyone in the room, Rhodey was the one Peter trusted the most. 

"Okay, so Pete, we need to hear your thoughts," Clint said, "If someone was struck by lightning, it would be possible for him to gain powers. Right?"

"Ooh, this," Peter said, "I’ve had this same argument with my friends many times, we even asked our science teacher. My friend, Ned, thinks that it is 100% accurate for someone who was struck by lightning and hit with a powerful energy source to receive powers. But my friend, Michelle, thinks that it isn’t and that the whole entire show and comic book series is stupid and anyone who likes it are mouth breathers."

"Hm... what about you?"

"I don’t have an opinion," Peter said, "I mean, it could be possible, sure. But it could not be... I wouldn’t want to find out, really."

"Can we please stop talking about that?!" Natasha asked, "Somethings up with Wells."

Everyone turned their focus back on TV. Everyone was surprised at the ‘big twist’, everyone included Peter, and he’d watched that show a good twenty times. 

"No offense," Bruce said, "This show is good and all, but these villains are nothing compared to the things we’ve seen before."

"Hm, yeah," Clint said, "Where did that cool archer guy go? I liked him."

"He has his own show," Peter said, "It’s really good, if you don’t mind the blood." 

"Now I know what I’m binge watching next."

Natasha rolled her eyes, "Oh please, you just want to watch it because it’s about an archer."

"Archers are under appreciated."

——

"Don’t worry, Tony, I’m sure he’s fine."

To celebrate Peppers return, Tony took her out for a special dinner. He originally planned for Peter to tag along with them, just they’d be able to bond with each other as a ‘family’, but Peter had homework to finish so he stayed at the tower. 

Tony might have been a little worried.

"I know, I know," Tony replied, "I just hope he isn’t keeping himself locked in his room the whole time; I’m usually the one who has to get him out."

"Tony," Pepper sighed, "Peter will be okay."

"Again, I know," he said, "I just can’t help but worry. This is the first time I’ve left him alone with the Avengers. They just look at him and he has a full-blown fanboy attack."

Pepper laughed slightly, "You worry too much."

Tony just smiled in return. Gosh, he’d missed her.

——

"Okay, kid, quick question: who’s your favorite Avenger?"

"Iron Man,"

"You’re just saying that because he’s your guardian,"

"No, actually, I’m not." Peter said, "He’s always been my favorite. I used to wear an Iron Man mask that I got from a Stark Expo when I was younger. It’s funny, because the same night I got the mask, I actually sort of met Iron Man."

"So, you’ve known Stark for awhile?" Wanda questioned, but Peter shook his head.

"No," he said, "I was there when those drones attacked. I wanted to help, but I got scared... ‘cause I was little and all, and then I put the mask on and I was still scared but those drones couldn’t tell so I tried fighting one. Obviously, I couldn’t, I wasn’t a superhero. But Iron Man came over and saved me and said ‘Nice work, kid’. It was the best day of my life."

That was also the last day Peter felt truly happy.

——

Tony and Pepper returned to the tower at 12am. 

It wasn’t much of a surprise to see the Avengers still up and sprawled on the couch, watching some random show they found on Netflix. What was a surprise, however, was to see Peter also there. 

There he was, laying on the couch, eyes closed and snoring slightly. He looked peaceful, no bad thoughts invading his mind. 

Tony smiled slightly at the sight as he walked towards him, the thought of having to wake the poor kid up making him feel guilty, "Come on, kid, time for bed."

The sleeping spider blinked away, his tired eyes looking up at his guardian, "Hm?"

"You fell asleep," Tony explained, "Let’s get you to your room."

"Okay," Peter groaned, getting up from the couch, "Night, everyone."

The Avengers who remained awake said good night to him as he walked to his room. 

"Thanks for keeping an eye on him," Tony said, "I hope he wasn’t too much trouble."

"Don’t worry about it," Steve said, "He’s a good kid."

Tony smiled, "I know he is."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay so I tried reading through this chapter, but I don’t know if there’s any mistakes. If there is, then feel free to tell me in the comments :)
> 
> Oh, and also! For awhile now, I’ve been considering whether or not I should change the name to this story. If I did, the new name would be ‘Life After Loss’. I feel like it’s more fitting but I want to hear y’alls opinions before I made a decision. 
> 
> I hope you enjoyed this chapter. Again, I’m sorry for the wait. Have a lovely week!


	9. Training With the Avengers

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So... I’m not dead.
> 
> I’ve been sort of struggling with writing. I have like, no inspiration for some reason and I’ve been finding it incredibly hard to sit down and actually write something. Just the thought of it gives me anxiety... which is weird because writing is normally what helps me cope with my anxiety. But whatever. 
> 
> Hope y’all enjoyed this sloppy chapter. I’d say the next one will be better, but... we both know that’s probably not true.

Birds chirped and the sun shone brightly in the clear, morning sky.

Peter awoke, blinking at the light coming through his window. With a tired sigh, he climbed out of bed to close his curtains.

For the first time in awhile, Peter felt like it’d be a good day.

——

Peter walked into the main floor, finding no one other than the actual Avengers sitting in the living room, watching something on TV, while wearing t-shirts and sweatpants. Although he’d lived in the tower for four months now, he still wasn’t used to the sight, and he wasn’t sure if he’d ever get used to it.

"Hey kid," Tony greeted from where he stood in the kitchen. "Sleep well?"

"Yep!" Peter replied, taking a seat at the kitchens table.

"You’re lucky it’s Saturday," Tony said. "After staying up all night watching TV, and then sleeping until ten, there’s no way you would’ve made it to school."

"It isn’t my fault," Peter replied, then pointed to the Avengers in the other room. "They’re the ones who decided to watch The Flash."

"That isn’t fair," Bucky shouted from the living room. "We didn’t make you watch it with us."

"You expect me to not watch The Flash?" Peter asked, offended. "And if it’s anyone’s fault, it’s Clint’s; He’s the one who made us watch Arrow. That show is too good to miss."

"Why would a bunch of superheroes want to watch a show about superheroes?" Tony asked. "We see enough of that crap everyday."

"True," Natasha shrugged.

"I got to say," Peter said. "I think the fighting could be a bit better. I mean, it’s good, but it could use improvement."

"I agree," Clint said. "I mean- the fighting is good, but it can get sloppy sometimes."

"Like that Spider-boy," Sam said. Peter spit out his drink.

"His fighting was impressive, but it definitely needed improvement." Sam continued on. "Hey Tony, still know him? Maybe he could come here for training."

"Nah," Bucky said. "I didn’t like him."

"I didn’t either," Sam replied. "But he’s obviously young, so I’d still feel terrible if something happened to him because of his fighting skills."

"I don’t know," Peter said. "I think he’s cool."

"I do, too." Tony said.

Peter’s eyes widened. Iron Man thought he was cool. This was the best day of his life. Tony Stark grinned slightly at Peter, who continued to fanboy. 

"And while I think he’s cool," Tony continued. "I do agree he could use some work. He couldn’t stop those muggers and Peter ended up getting hurt."

"Wait. Spider-Man was there?" Steve asked. "I didn’t know that."

"There was a lot of muggers," Peter shrugged. "They were too much for him."

"Which is why he needs training," Tony looked at Peter. "I’ll invite him to come over so he can train; I don’t want Peter to get hurt again because Spider-Man was overwhelmed."

"Every hero has their weak moments," Peter said. "And it was better that I got hurt than someone else. They might not recover as well as I did."

No one replied as the conversation seemed a little strange. Peter sighed, "But that’s a good idea. Spider-Man could improve, and I’m sure he thinks so, too."

"Great!" Sam said. "So it’s settled; The Spider-Punk will come here and train."

"Spider-Man," Peter corrected. "And how do you know? He hasn’t agreed yet. I mean, I’m 100% sure he will, but you can’t just assume."

"He’ll agree," Tony said. "If he doesn’t, then I’ll take his suit away."

"No!" Peter exclaimed. Everyone— literally everyone looked over at Peter. "He needs his suit; What if something happened? Like, someone tried stealing weapons and a plane? Or a building fell on him? That could cause him a lot of problems."

"Those never happened, right?" Tony asked worriedly. "Are y- Is he okay?"

"I wouldn’t know," Peter said. "I’m not Spider-Man."

——

Peter— Spider-Man — ended up training with the freaking Avengers the week after. After he’d explained the story of how a building fell on him, Tony wanted Peter to start training as soon as possible. The conversation went as planned.

("What do you mean you had a building dropped on you?"

"I mean... I had a building dropped on me? You literally just said that."

"Peter,"

"Okay, okay— it’s a long story."

"And I have the time to hear it.")

Training started on Friday after school. That way, the bruises Peter would (probably) receive from training, would have cleared up by school. 

Spider-Man does a quick flip and climbs onto the walls as Falcon flies his way. He crawls on ceiling and drops back to the floor, only to be met with a fist coming towards his face.

Thanks to his spidey-sense, he manages to dodge it. 

Peter grins under his mask. He just dodged a punch from Black Widow! He drops her hand and jumps back onto the ceiling, yelling an obnoxious “YEET!” on his way up.

"Yeet?" Steve asked, clueless. "What’s a ‘yeet’?"

"I believe it means, ‘you eat’." Thor replied simply.

"Why would Spider-Man say you eat? It doesn’t make any sense."

Peter laughed, falling off the ceiling. He didn’t care, though. He was too busy laughing at Thor and Steve. "No no," Spider-Man said, standing up and walking towards the two. "Yeet is a silly, random word that the amazing Vine has made."

"Is it a word you use for ‘jumping’?" 

"Nah," Spider-Man shook his head. "I just use it when I’m, like, doing a flip or, swinging through the city or whatever."

Steve opened his mouth. Then closed it. And opened it again. "I don’t understand," 

"It’s confusing," 

"Okay, I don’t understand that, but I also don’t understand why you aren’t paying attention!" Steve yelled, and then Spider-Man jumped to the ceiling once again..

Or at least he tried to.

He fell to the ground with a loud noise. 

"Spider-Man!" Tony yelled, rushing towards him. "You alright?"

"M’fine," Spider-Man replied lazily. He attempted to sit, but gave up half through and flopped back down. "I need a minute."

——

"Are you sure you’re okay?"

Peter sighed dramatically and sat back down on his bed. "No, Tony. I’m dead." he replied, then reassured his guardian. "Tony, I’m fine. I wasn’t prepared and I fell. But I promise you, I’m okay. Relax."

"Fine," Tony said. "Just... be more careful next time."

"I will." Peter said. "But I’m sorry I scared you, I didn’t mean to make you worry."

"It’s okay," Tony said. "I guess part of being a dad is having your kid give you a mini heart attack every second of the day."

"...Did you just call yourself my dad?"

"What? No. Of course not."

"You- you just- YOU DID!" Peter exclaimed. "Tony Stark just called himself my dad. I’m his kid. I know I’ve said this a lot in these past couple of chapters, but this, this is the best day of my freaking life."

"Okay, okay. Whatever." Tony said. "I have work to do. I don’t have the time to sit here and listen to you ramble about something I obviously didn’t say. Y’know, it’s not nice to lie."

"But-"

"No, kid. I don’t want to hear it. I can’t be around a liar. It’s a bad example for me."

——

"Mr. Rhodes-"

"Rhodey,"

"Tony Stark called me his kid." 

"And you’re surprised—?"

"Guess I’m not."

——

Time went by quick. Spider-Man continued to train with the Avengers, and his fighting was improving greatly. It didn’t take long for Spider-Man to start joining battles.

It was rarely ever planned. Normally FRIDAY would alert the Avengers of some sort of threat in the city, and Spider-Man would ‘coincidentally’ know where to be at the exact location and time.

Despite being disliked by most of the team, Spider-Man always had their backs during battle. He’d taken a lot of hits, but it was never anything serious. After one battle, the Avengers even thanked Spider-Man and complimented him on his fighting skills.

It was awesome.

——

"Hey, who has one arm and asthma and hates sand?" Spider-Man said once during a battle. It was against a man who could control sand— actually, the man was sand. He could randomly transform himself which made it harder to fight him. 

"Let me guess, Anakin Skywalker." Bucky replied through the comms.

"You aren’t any fun," Spider-Man paused. "And neither was that joke. I can think of something better, give me a minute."

"Hey," Tony said. "More fighting, less joking around. And, Bucky, you know who Anakin Skywalker is?"

"Peter watches a lot of Star Wars," Bucky defended. "I can’t not pay attention. It’s too interesting."

"Darth Vader has asthma?" Wanda asked, confused. 

"I mean, it’s never been confirmed." Spider-Man said. "But just listen to how he breathes. It definitely sounds like it."

"I had asthma and I didn’t breathe like that." Steve replied. 

"Sure ya did." Bucky argued. "You sounded like a whistle anytime you breathed."

"Whatever." Although Bucky wasn’t nearby, he could just see Steve rolling his eyes.

"Don’t roll your eyes," Bucky replied. "You can’t get offended from the truth."

"What! I didn’t roll my eyes!" Steve argued. "And it isn’t the truth, therefor I am allowed to be offended."

"I didn’t mean to start a war," Spider-Man said. "But can’t we all agree that Darth Vader has asthma. I mean, maybe he didn’t always have it, but all the smoke he breathed in had to do some damage to his lungs."

"Whatever. Darth Vader has asthma." Tony said. "Now kid, please pay attention before something bad happens."

"Why are you telling him to be careful, and not us." Clint asked. "I want to be told to be careful."

"You’re an adult, I know you’ll be careful."

"Maybe I won’t. I need someone to tell me in order for me to do so."

"Okay, okay." Natasha said, rolling her eyes. "Be careful."

"Thanks, Nat." Clint grinned. "I will. See, Tony, Nat may have just saved my life."

"You’re a child."

"A careful child, yes."

"Guys! I have an idea!" Spider-Man exclaimed. "Remember season two episode two of The Flash? The Flash has to fight a villain named Sand Demon. He threw lightning at him which turned him into glass. Maybe we could try that!"

"That... that’s actually a great idea." Tony said. "Thor? I need you over here."

"On it, Stark!"

Despite the bickering over stupid stuff, the battle ended up being successful and they took down their villain, which both Peter and Tony agreed to call Sand Man, without a single problem. Everyone managed to make it out of the battle with barely a scratch. 

When they returned to the tower to discuss the battle, everyone thanked Spider-Man for his idea and then he went on his way.

(Peter returned to the tower immediately after Spider-Man left)

——

August was already a busy month, and it was still July.

General Ross had called a meeting to discuss the accords and the battle in Berlin. It was supposed to be sooner, but everything with Peter happened and so Tony kept putting it off; When Pepper returned from her trip, she forced Tony to sit down and schedule the meeting. After a lot of unnecessary talking, Tony and Ross agreed to meet within the first week of August.

Black Panther, or better known as T’Challa, would be flying in from Wakanda that month. Apparently, because he was involved in the battle, he was also involved in the meeting. 

Maybe it wasn’t all bad. T’Challa had a little sister around Peter’s age that was coming along. Everyone would be really busy that week and Peter got bored easily, maybe she could keep him some company. 

Peters birthday was also that month. Tony only realized that after he scheduled the meeting. He felt guilty because they were so close together. What if the meeting lasted a couple of days? What if he couldn’t be there for Peter? 

Pepper managed to calm him down some. She reassured him that the meeting would probably not go on for five days, and if it did, for some reason, drag on, they’d still make sure that Peter had a good birthday. 

The month would be stressful, but it would also be Pepper and Tony’s favorite month this year. They were getting married on August 27th. They wished they could skip over the meeting and just get to that date already. They loved each other, and they were counting down the days they got to be husband and wife.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> If there are any spellings mistakes, I’m sorry. I’ll admit, the second I finished writing this, I rushed to get it out. This chapter was really annoying to write. 
> 
> Anyway. Thanks for reading, and Happy Holidays.


	10. August

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> T’Challa and Shuri come in from Wakanda; Peter celebrates his first birthday without May; Tony and Pepper get married.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Oh my gosh,
> 
> I am so sorry it’s taken me so long to update. I don’t have much of an excuse, other than this: In February I started taking anxiety medicine and, well, it did more harm than good. It put me in a serious state of depression and made my anxiety a lot worse. I just couldn’t bring myself to write. Thankfully, I’m no longer taking it and so I’m back to my normal self. 
> 
> Sorry if this chapter sucks. It’s been awhile since I’ve written anything.

The month of August was eventful, but it was the happiest Peter has been in a long time.

T’Challa and his little sister Princess Shuri flew in from Wakanda for a meeting with General Ross; While the adults boringly discussed the accords, Peter and Shuri discussed memes and quickly became best friends.

They spent most of their days watching vines and looking at memes, and when Peter’s other friends came to visit the tower, that’s when the real trouble started.

Because when you have six Gen-Z kids under the same roof, things get crazy.

They made stupid videos and posted them on their Instagram stories, making sure to tag each other in them.

As the meeting was *finally* wrapping up, the six teenagers started a game of— "The floor is lava!" Peter exclaimed, just as the Avengers (plus T’Challa and Ross) walked out of the meeting.

Shuri leaped onto kitchen counter, yelling ‘yeet’ in the process. Peter followed behind her, only she tried shoving him off. Ned climbed onto the table and MJ sighed, simply putting her feet on the couch while she continued to read. Gwen made a little squeak noise as she and Harry scrambled to the nearest seat, he stubbed his toe and so she got to the chair first.

"What’s going on in here?" Tony asked, an amused smirk on his face.

Peter fell off the counter then, landing in the ‘lava’.

"Hah!" Shuri yelled. "It’s over, Anakin, I have the high ground!"

"You underestimate my power!" Peter exclaimed.

"We’re playing the floor is lava," Ned explained from where he stood on the table.

"Him too?" Natasha asked, nodding towards Harry.

"Kill me, lava," Harry said, laying face first on the floor. "I give up."

"Is he okay?" Steve asked, concern clear in voice.

"He’s Gen-Z," MJ answered. "Of course not,"

Gwen laughed, "He’s fine. He’s just upset because he stubbed his toe." 

"That’s the worst," Bucky said, flinching at the thought.

"Says the man who literally lost his arm." Sam said.

Tony turned his attention back to Ross, said something snarky to which the other man replied with more professionalism, and the two went to the elevator.

"So," Peter said. "Ever play the floor is lava?"

Ten minutes later, Tony walked in on a very intense battle of the floor is lava.

—————

T’Challa and Shuri stayed long enough to be there for Peter’s birthday.

Peter requested a small party and so that’s what he got. Tony ordered him his favorite cake and bought decorations from the local party store. They ate takeout for dinner, that way everyone got the food that they wanted.

Peter went missing halfway through the party.

"Where’s Peter?" Tony asked.

"I don’t know," Ned said. "He told me he was going to go charge his phone but that was ten minutes ago."

Tony muttered a curse and sighed, "Okay, okay. Crap. I’m going to go find him." And that’s exactly what he did.

He found Peter in his room, sitting on his bed with tears in his eyes.

"Hey, kid." Tony said. "Are you alright?"

"Uh, y-yeah," Peter sniffled. "I’m fine. I’ll be out in a minute."

"I’ve been your guardian long enough to know when you’re lying." Tony said, pushing open the door and walking inside to sit next to Peter on his bed. "Wanna talk?"

"You’re probably busy,"

Tony gasped, pretending to be offended, "I’m never too busy for my favorite Spiderling!"

Peter sniffled again, but smiled nonetheless. "I’m your only Spiderling!"

Tony smiles a little, but it disappears as soon as it comes, "Now, tell me what’s wrong."

Peter took a breath before speaking, "It’s just... it’s my first birthday without May," he said. "And, I guess, I guess I kind of feel guilty, y’know? I’ve never celebrated without her and it just feels wrong... I don’t know, it’s stupid."

"It’s not stupid," Tony said. "And I may not have known May all that well, but I know she loved you and I’m sure she wouldn’t be upset if you celebrated your birthday, Peter."

"I miss them," Peter said, Tony could hear the tears in his voice. "I miss my family."

"I know you do, kid." Tony said, wrapping his arm around Peter’s shoulders. "I know you do."

—————

Shuri and T’Challa left the day after Peter’s birthday.

It was bittersweet; Peter and Shuri were glad to have met each other but were upset to say goodbye. They promised that they’d FaceTime two times a week and text as much as possible, even if they didn’t have anything to talk about.

The Avengers watched the plane take off, and Peter couldn’t help but smile. Anytime he made a new friend, he got so happy for some reason. Huh. He was kind of like a puppy. Weird.

(Before laying down to go to bed that night, Peter received a text from Shuri. It was a picture of Shrek.)

—————

August 27th, 2018.

The day of Tony Stark and Pepper Potts wedding.

It was beautiful. A day that everyone would surely remember; Pepper wore a plain white gown with lace. It was simple, but it was gorgeous. The ceremony was sweet, both Tony and Pepper having wrote their own vows.

There wasn’t a single dry eye by the time it was done and over with.

Rhodey clapped Tony on the back with a smile, "You’re married now."

"I am." Tony said. "I’m married. Unbelievable, isn’t it?"

"Do you feel any different?" Happy asked.

Tony considered. "Yeah, I guess I do." He said. "In a good way. I feel happy."

Everyone had a chance to congratulate the happy couple. Peter hugged both of them tightly, saying, "I can’t believe Iron Man is married now!"

Tony laughs and hugs him back. 

—————

The next day, Tony and Pepper leave for their honeymoon.

The Avengers agree to watch Peter, though he insists he doesn’t need a babysitter.

("I’m a teenager, not a baby! I can take care of myself!"

"Sure you can, kiddo.")

Peter hugs Tony, feeling a little unsure. This would be the very first time Tony left Peter alone at the tower, and he was afraid that he wouldn’t come back.

"I’ll be fine, kid." Tony said. 

"I know, it’s just..." Peter trailed. "I’m a little nervous."

"And that’s fine," Tony said. "Be good for the Avengers, okay?"

Peter smiled, "No promises."

Tony and Pepper waved goodbye to their friends as the plane flew off. 

Peter smiled and shouted, "Bye, Mr. Stark! Bye, Mrs. Stark!"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> If there’s any errors feel free to tell me. The second I finished this chapter I wanted to post it since it’s taken me so like to update. Anyway, hope you liked it. Bye guys!

**Author's Note:**

> Quick note: Infinity War... it didn’t happen in this fanfiction. And the Avenger tower still exists and the Avengers are all friends again. Okay? Okay. 
> 
> ALSO, I’ve never actually read the Spider-Man comics, but I’ve done research and I’ve seen a few Spider-Man movies (Homecoming is my favorite) and I will be taking a few things from the comics I’ve done research on and adding them to this story. This story is really fun to write so far and I enjoy researching comic books, and hope to one day finally be able to read the comics.
> 
> If you enjoy this story, please kudos and comment! Any helpful tips are welcome, as I am new to writing for this fandom (though I’ve seen almost every movie and read almost every fanfic) and have never used Archive to write or post fanfiction on.
> 
> Instagram: TwentyOneJedi011
> 
> WattPad: TwentyOneJedi011


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